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Showing posts from March, 2020

Data distribution shapes via 1918 Flu Pandemic mortality distributions

I apologize in advance if you are pandemiced out. It is just that my brain won't stop seeing stats examples in information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, researchers are looking back at the 1918 Flu Pandemic in order to forecast how social distancing (or lack thereof) will affect mortality rates now. And these patterns, as illustrated by National Geographic, demonstrate different data distribution shapes . The data comes from a reputable source, is scaled to deaths per 100,000 as to allow for comparison, and the distributions are related to very important data. Other lessons your students can learn from this data: This is what good scicomm looks like. Also, sometimes a good data visualization is better than an accurate-yet-filled-with-jargon version of the same information. For instance, much has been shared about NYC vs St. Louis in terms of timing of quarantine. Here is the comparison yet again, but in an easier-to-follow description: There is a ton of...

Online Day 2: Using Mythbusters to review t-test research designs

TL:DR: Imma send my students to YouTube to watch three MythBuster clips that approximately illustrate t-test research designs. Then, they will identify the t-test research design that is illustrated by each of these clips.  More detail. MythBusters is a show that gleefully creates research to test urban legends and random questions that arise in day to day life. The questions that my clips tackle are: a) how badly do people drive when distracted by hands-free cell phones, b) could Indiana Jones have really made it through the chamber at the beginning of Temple of Doom and c) what is faster: Weaving in and out of lanes or staying in the right-hand lane when driving? So, they will watch the clips, and I will ask them questions (they will submit their answers via Google Forms Quiz) to make sure they can tell which sort of t-tests you would use to analyze the data, given research design. Here is the PPT I will use. I've never used this exact clip in class before. I di...

Online Day 1: Ask your students to collect and analyze data from their FB friends

Hello, my friends. We live in strange times. I will try to share everything so that this transition to online education is more manageable. My university is pausing teaching for this week (3/16-3/20), so we can prepare. I've prepared my first lesson. I've used this lesson before. I like this lesson because you can use it with ANY of the inferential statistics taught in Intro Stats. Here is my PPT for the projec t. I used it for an Independent t-test, but you can use it for any test. What you need: A FB account, a way to share a lecture with your students, a way for your students to share ideas about what sorts of variables you can glean from FB. What your students need: A FB account (I suggest you create an extra data set to share with students who don't have one), a way to conduct statistical tests (by hand, calculator, JASP, Excel, R).  Tips:  1. I don't think this is an excellent way to introduce a statistical test, but I think it is a usef...

PsiChiR: A new contest to help you and your students learn R

Psi Chi, the psychology honor society, is sponsoring a fun, free, low-commitment way to help your students (and maybe you?) learn R. I talked with Jordan Wagge, one psychologists spearheading the project (along with John Eldund and April Staples), and my understanding is that there will be multiple cycles of this class, using different data, research questions, and inferential statistics (so, if your students can't do this right now, a new cycle will start Late Spring). Each cycle will run the course of three months. There will be an assignment due in the middle of each month. This class would be great for any graduate school-bound undergraduate. Here is the formal intro from Psi Chi . A good place to get started is this Google Doc that outlines the whole contest and the process you/your students will go through, step by step. Here are all of the materials , hosted on OSF. Also, if you successfully complete it YOU GET A STICKER. And I find that the UGs love stickers. N...