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Showing posts with the label Simpson's Paradox

Multiverse = multiple correlation and regression examples!

I love InformationIsBeautiful . They created my favorite data visualization of all tim e.  They also created an interactive scatterplot with all sorts of information about Marvel Comic Universe  films. How to use in class: 1. Experiment with the outcome variables you can add to the X and Y axes: Critical response, budget, box office receipts, year of release, etc. There are more than that; you can add them to either the X or Y axes. So, it is one website, but there are many ways to assess the various films. 2. Because of interactive axes, there are various correlation and regression examples. And these visualizations aren't just available as a quick visual example of linear relationships...see item 3... 3. You can ask your students to conduct the actual data analyses you can visualize because  the hecking data is available . 4. The website offers exciting analyses, encouraging your students to think critically about what the data tells them. 5. You could also squeeze Simp...

Geckoboard's "Data fallacies to avoid"

Geckoboard created a list of common statistical fallacies , including cherry picking, Simpson's paradox, gerrymandering, and many more. Each fallacy comes with a brief description of the fallacy, references, a printable card for review/display, and drawing. They are kind of gorgeous and to the point and helpful. https://www.geckoboard.com/learn/data-literacy/statistical-fallacies/sampling-bias/ Here is the downloadable card for the Regression Toward the Mean: https://www.geckoboard.com/assets/regression-toward-the-mean.pdf They even present all of their graphics as  a free, downloadable poster . My only peeve is that they use the term "Data Dredging" where I would have said "HARKing" or "Going on a fishing expedition". And that is just the tiniest of peeves, I think this is a good check list filled with images and concise descriptions that would look beautiful in a college professor's office, a stats class room, or anonymously ...

TED talks about statistics and research methods

There are a number of TED talks that apply to research methods and statistics classes. First, there is this TED playlist entitled The Dark Side of Data . This one may not be applicable to a basic stats class but does address broader ethical issues of big data, widespread data collection, and data mining. These videos are also a good way of conveying how data collection (and, by extension, statistics) are a routine and invisible part of everyday life. This talk by Peter Donnelly discusses the use of statistics in court cases, and the importance of explaining statistics in a manner that laypeople can understand. I like this one as I teach my students how to create APA results sections for all of their statistical analyses. This video helps to explain WHY we need to learn to report statistics, not just perform statistics. Hans Rosling has a number of talks (and he has been mentioned previously on this blog, but bears being mentioned again). He is a physician and conveys his passion...

Free webinar on Simpson's Paradox teaching example/Bayesian logic for undergraduate statistics

Attend CAUSE Web's free Journal of Statistics Education webinar  on 10/21/14 to learn about 1) a classroom example  of Simpson's Paradox as well as 2) ways to incorporate Bayesian logic into undergraduate statistics courses. More information on past JSE webinars available here .