This is a fun question perfect for that first or second chapter of every intro stats text. The part with data distributions. And it works for either the 1) beginning of the Fall semester and, therefore, football season or 2) the beginning of the Spring semester and, therefore, the lead-up to the Superbowl. Anyway,  Ben Jones   tweeted a few bar chart distributions that illustrate different descriptive statistics for NFL players. https://twitter.com/DataRemixed/status/1022553248375304193  He, kindly, provided the answers to his quiz. How to use it in class: 1) Bar graphs! 2) Data distributions and asking your students to logic their way through the correct answers...it makes sense that the data is skewed young. Also, it might surprise students that very high earners in the NFL are outliers among their peers. 3) Distribution shapes: Bimodal because of linebackers. Skewed because NFL players run young and have short careers. Normal data for height because even...

If you are unaware, Nextdoor.com is a social network that brings together total strangers because they live in the same neighborhood. And it validates your identity and your address, so even though you don't really know these people, you know where they live, what their name is, and maybe even what they look like as you have the option to upload a photo. Needless to say, it is a train wreck. Sure, people do give away free stuff, seek out recommendations for home improvements, etc. But it is mostly complaining or non-computer-savvy people using computers. One of the things you can do is create a poll. Or, more often, totally screw up a poll. Here are some of my favorites. In the captions, I have given some ideas of how they could be used as examples in RM or psychomtrics. This is actually a pretty good scale. A lesson in human factors/ease of user interface use? Response options are lacking and open to interpretation. Sometimes, you don't need a poll at a...

As described here, legislatures in Puerto Rico attempted to take independent authority away from the Puetero Rican Institute of Statistics (PRIS), a governmental watch dog in charge of double checking statistics and research methods used by the government . This decision was made in order to streamline government, which is understandable. But it was also problematic because watchdogs need independence in order to have the power and safety to say unpopular things. Anyway, the legislatures ended up NOT streamlining PRIS's and taking away its authority, in part due to an outcry from other scientific agencies. How to use in class: -Statistics in real life, informing decisions, informing funding, being controversial. -Why do organizations like American Statistical Association and American Association for the Advancement of Science exist? Well, for a lot of reasons, one of which is t o publicly protests moves like the one PR tried to execute. -Statisticians and scientists aren...