Anscombe's Quartet

No, Wikipedia isn't a proper resource for our students to cite. But it is not without merit.

For example, I think the information it provides on Anscombe's quartet is very useful. This example provides four data distributions. For each, the means and variances for both the X and Y variables are identical. The correlations between X and Y, and the regression lines, are also identical.

This is the descriptive/inferential data that applies to each of the four graphs

I have seen variations upon this in textbooks over the years, but typically they just show how different distributions can have the same mean and standard deviation. I think this example goes the extra mile by including r and the regression line.

How to use in class:

-Graphs aren't for babies. They can be an essential part of understanding your data.
-Outliers are bad!
-The original data is also included at the Wikipedia entry if you would like your students to create these graphs in class.

Ways to use funny meme scales in your stats classes

Have you ever heard of the theory that there are multiple people worldwide thinking about the same novel thing at the same time? It is the multiple discovery hypothesis of invention . Like, multiple great minds around the world were working on calculus at the same time. Well, I think a bunch of super-duper psychology professors were all thinking about scale memes and pedagogy at the same time. Clearly, this is just as impressive as calculus. Who were some of these great minds? 1) Dr. Molly Metz maintains a curated list of hilarious "How you doing?" scales. 2) Dr. Esther Lindenström posted about using these scales as student check-ins. 3) I was working on a blog post about using such scales to teach the basics of variables. So, I decided to create a post about three ways to use these scales in your stats classes: 1) Teaching the basics of variables. 2) Nominal vs. ordinal scales. 3) Daily check-in with your students. 1. Teach your students the basics...

Leo DiCaprio Romantic Age Gap Data: UPDATE

Does anyone else teach correlation and regression together at the end of the semester? Here is a treat for you: Updated data on Leonardo DiCaprio, his age, and his romantic partner's age when they started dating. A few years ago, there was a dust-up when a clever Redditor r/TrustLittleBrother realized that DiCaprio had never dated anyone over 25. I blogged about this when it happened. But the old data was from 2022. Inspired by this sleuthing, I created a wee data set, including up-to-date information on his current relationship with Vittoria Ceretti, so your students can suss out the patterns that exist in this data.

Logical Fallacy Ref Meme

So, I love me some good statsy memes. They make a brief, important point that sticks in the heads of students. I've recently learned of the Logical Fallacy Ref meme. Here are a couple that apply to stats class:

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