Summary Statistics

  • Lyrics © Mary McLellan
    may sing to the tune of Fun's"We Are Young"

    Give me a second now
    I need to get my words straight
    I need to learn the vocab that is all about the data’s shape
    Uniformed, symmetrical, skewed to the right and the left
    Will there be an outlier or is the shape regular
    I know I then choose the center, though…
    Do I pick mean or median?
    So that I don’t get confused the spread that I choose to use is IQR or standard deviation

    When the AP test approaches and I want to get a 5, I know what to do:
    Describe the distribution
    Shape and outliers
    Center and spread
    Describe the distribution
    Shape and outliers
    Center and spread
    When the AP test approaches and I want to get a 5, this song will help me to thrive

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkjlhdc5hlk

  • Lyrics © 2016 Lawrence M. Lesser
    may sing to the tune of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

     

    Picture statistics in the newspaper
    With context all missing or half summarized;
    Somebody chose just who would be surveyed
    And the order the items arise.
    Stats are each chosen and given a setting, polished and cut for a view:
    Look for the angle that reaches your eyes when they're done.

    CHORUS: This is how stats are like diamonds,
    This is how stats are like diamonds,
    This is how stats are like diamonds, ahhh……

    Follow the chain of a long calculation
    For students who view stats as math mechanized.
    But when you tell them "all stats are constructed",
    Their eyebrows will rise up so high!

    Newspaper numbers appear on page 4, labelled and grouped for display:
    Like a nice gem, this story now sparkled, unlike rocks. (Repeat Chorus)

    Picture a stat with no error or bias,
    Without a confounder that's lurking disguised.
    Take care that you see how that stat is presented:
    Most jewels have a flaw to apprise. (Repeat Chorus twice)

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