Check out this citizen scientist experimenting with different DIY fruit fly traps.  https://www.reddit.com/r/CleaningTips/comments/1xguovq/had_a_fruit_fly_infestation_at_home_so_i_set_up/ As always, the comments section delivered: What started as Reviewer 2 turned into an obscure music reference: There was a call for a replication and extension: File drawer problem/unpublished research:  Anyway, how to use in class 1. I like silly examples that demonstrate that EVERYONE is capable of scientific reasoning. This user even included a Methods section and a Discussion. 2. This could be used to explain ANOVA. Factor: Liquid. Levels: Beer, white wine, wine vinegar, distilled white vinegar, fruit syrup. DV: Dead flies.

My favorite way to illustrate the difference between expected and observed values is to use US Senate data on gender distribution. Why this data? There are 100 senators, two from each state. Gender is randomly distributed. So, comparing the observed data (the actual number of women senators) to the expected value of 50 senators is a pretty intuitive, easy-to-follow example. I then immediately discuss the same O vs. E discrepancy with the House of Representatives data, which doesn't start on a nice, neat scale of 100. I have to update this every two years to stay current. If you use this example, this might be a good time to update your own lecture. I use data and visualizations from Rutergers Center for American Women and Politics . The purple bar represents the total number of women in the Senate and House of Representatives as of January 2027.

Agree to Disagree is a regular feature on LADBible.  This series pairs up two celebrities who are typically on a promotional tour for a new movie or show. The interviewer gives them a series of questions, and they need to use a Likert-type scale printed on a table and glasses (sometimes containing booze) to make their response. For example, here is an Agree to Disagree segment featuring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishshaw , who are promoting the second season of Black Doves on Netflix. PS: I LOVED THE FIRST SEASON OF BLACK DOVES. So, it starts with a question: Then the "participants" give their response on a Likert-type scale.  Then they discuss their responses. PS: Keira swears like a sailor. How to use in class: 1) This might be the only entertaining way ever to introduce Likert-type scales. ALSO: If you really want to nerd it up, you can have a class discussion about scales with   no neutral point . 2) I also like this as an example of a mixed-methods survey. The pe...