Statistical Inference & Techniques

  • ...no good statistician existed unless he, or she, had been so involved in practical experimentation that they appreciated and understood the problems of the experimenter, the process worker, the farmer and the laboratory assistant. is a quote of British applied statistician Stella V. Cunliffe (1917 - 2012). The quote comes from her Presidential address on November 12, 1975 to the Royal Statistical Society (she was the first women to hold the position). The full presentation can be found in "JRSS series A" vol 139 p. 1-19 and contains many interesting examples from her years working at Guiness Brewery and for the government at the Home Office.
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • A cartoon to teach the idea that averages are less variable than individual values. The cartoon is free for use on course websites or in the classroom. Commercial uses must contact the copyright holder - British cartoonist John Landers (cartoons@landers.co.uk) who drew this cartoon based on an idea from Dennis Pearl.
    View Resource
    5
    Average: 5 (1 vote)
  • August 25, 2009 Activity webinar presented by Michelle Everson, University of Minnesota and hosted by Leigh Slauson, Capital University. In a classroom setting, students can engage in hands-on activities in order to better understand certain concepts and ideas. Replicating hands-on activities in an online environment, however, can be a challenge for instructors. The purpose of this webinar is to present an applet that was created to replicate a "Post-it Note" activity commonly used in classroom sections of an undergraduate introductory statistics course at University of Minnesota. The Post-it Note activity is meant to help students develop a more conceptual understanding of the mean and the median by moving a set of Post-it Notes along a number line. During the webinar, participants have an opportunity to see and experience just how online students are able to interact with an applet named the "Sticky Centers" applet, and the webinar presents the kinds of materials and assignments that have been created to use in conjunction with this applet. The webinar ends with a preview of a newer applet that is being developed in order to replicate the famous "Gummy Bears in Space" activity (presented in Schaeffer, Gnanadesikan, Watkins & Witmer, 1996). A supplemental student handout is available for download free of charge.
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • The same set of statistics can produce opposite conclusions at different levels of aggregation. is a quote useful in teaching about Simpson's Paradox from American Economist Thomas Sowell (1930 - ). The quote may be found on page 102 of his 1996 book "The vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy". The quote may also be found at the science history website www.todayinsci.com.
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • Every careful measurement in science is always given with the probable error... every observer admits that he is likely wrong, and knows about how much wrong he is likely to be. This is a quote by Welsh Mathematician and philosopher Bertrand A.W. Russell (1872 - 1970). The quote may be found in his 1931 book "The Scientific Outlook" and is also found on the science history website www.todayinsci.com
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • In the philosophic sense, observation shows and experiment teaches. This is a quote by French physiologist Claude Bernard (1813 - 1878). The quote is from his 1865 book "An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine" as translated by Henry Greene (the first printing of this english translation was in 1927 by Macmillan).
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • In our society, if you love dogs, cats, or goldfish you're considered normal and even nice. Say a kind word for statistics and you're regarded as a little mad. This is a quote from Newsweek and Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson (1945 - ). The quote appears in a column titled "The Joy of Statistics" in "Newsweek" on November 4, 1985.
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • September 22, 2009 Activity Webinar presented by Diane Evans, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and hosted by Leigh Slauson, Capital University. This webinar is based on an activity found at www.lhs.logan.k12.ut.us/~jsmart/tank.htm and other on-line resources (see references). During World War II, the British and U.S. statisticians used estimation methods to deduce the productivity of Germany's armament factories using serial numbers found on captured equipment, such as tanks. The tanks were numbered in a manner similar to 1, 2, 3, ..., N, and the goal of the allies was to estimate the population maximum N from their collected sample of serial numbers. The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the concept of an unbiased estimator of a population parameter. Students develop several estimators for the parameter N and compare them by running simulations in Minitab. Extra materials available for download free of charge.
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • The best way to predict the future is to invent it. This is a quote by American computer scientist Alan C. Kay (1940 - ). The quote was said at a 1971 meeting of Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center.
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet
  • A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: 'Duh.' This a quote from American comedian and talk show host Conan O'Brien (1963 - ) delivered on his TV show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien".
    View Resource
    0
    No votes yet

Pages