Resource Library

A quote to stimulate a discussion about Bayesian estimation and the relationship between the degree of ignorance about a parameter and its probability distribution. The quote is by English novelist Mary Anne Evans (1819-1880) who wrote under the pen name George Eliot. The quote is from her 1876 novel Daniel Deronda.

The Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource is a collection of data sets. It includes definitions of each variable in the data set. It requires a login to retrieve the data sets. Registering involves giving your name and address and the name of the study and a detailed description of the intended use of the data.

A joke about the need for a comparison group. The joke was written in 2011 by Dennis Pearl from The Ohio State University and told in his after dinner talk at the 2011 USCOTS banquet.

A quote that might help in a discussion of the value of observational over experimental when the Hawthorne effect is important. The quote is by American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978). The quote is found in her book Blackberry Winter (1972).

A quote that might be used in discussing the research cycle, the scientific method, and the nature of experiments versus observational studies as well as the difference in purpose between quantitative and qualitative studies. The quote is by American author Zora Neale Hurston (1891 – 1960) and appeared in her book Dust Tracks on a Road (1942) chapter 10 p. 143. The quote may also be found at www.quotationsbywomen.com

A cartoon to illustrate the idea that the standard 5% significance level is an arbitrary cut-off. The cartoon was used in the February, 2017 CAUSE cartoon caption contest and the winning caption was submitted by Mickey Dunlap from University of Georgia. The cartoon was drawn by British cartoonist John Landers (www.landers.co.uk) based on an idea from Dennis Pearl from Penn State University.

A cartoon to help students learn not to "accept" the null hypothesis. The cartoon was drawn by British cartoonist John Landers (www.landers.co.uk) based on an idea in 2016 from Dennis Pearl from Penn State University.

A quote to initiate a discussion of the fact that correlation does not imply a causal relationship (especially spurious correlations that happen by coincidence). The quote is by American novelist and poet Siri Hustvedt (1955 - ) from her 2011 novel The Summer Without Men.

A quote to use in discussions of the value of meta-analyses. The quote is by American Biostatistician Olive Dunn (1915-2008) from chapter 1 of her 1977 textbook Basic Statistics: A Primer for the Biomedical Sciences. Note that one aspect of meta-analysis is the selection and weighting of different studies to be included in the overall analysis. Thus, this quote might be most relevant to stimulate a discussion of that aspect.

A quote to motivate discussion of how knowledge builds from a base. The quote is by Austrian-American Mathematician Hilda Geiringer (1893-1973) who used it in connection to her philosophy of probability and how it should build from a firm mathematical base but be connected to real world problems. The quote is contained in her 1964 preface to Mathematical Theory of Probability and Statistics by Richard von Mises (von Mises was her husband and she wrote and compiled the book from his notes after his death).