www.math.umass.edu/~lavine/Book/book.html Introduction to Statistical Thought grew out of my teaching graduate and undergraduate statistics courses for many years, and from my experience as a statistical consultant and collaborator. I wanted to write a text that explains how statisticians think about data, introduces modern statistical computing, and has lots of real examples. The book is intended as an upper level undergraduate or introductory graduate textbook in statistical thinking with a likelihood emphasis for students with a good knowledge of calculus and the ability to think abstractly. Another unusual aspect is the use of statistical software as a pedagogical tool. Here is a copy of a book review from JASA, December, 2006. Introduction to Statistical Thought is not finished, and probably never will be, but is sufficiently complete to be used as a course text by knowledgable instructors. Introduction to Statistical Thought is available for free download. Download a pdf:EnglishBelorussianDownload data
Complexity and The Future of Aid This piece is cross-posted from the Global Policy blog, where it has been published as part of Global Policy’s new e-book, ‘Emergence, Convergence and the Future of Aid’, edited by Andy Sumner. Contributions from academics and practitioners will be serialised on Global Policy until the e-book’s release in the first quarter of 2014. Find out more here or join the debate onTwitter #GPfutureofaid. There is a pervasive and longstanding bias in aid. Due to a combination of political expediency, administrative convenience, and organizational culture, aid agencies have strong institutional tendencies toward operating as though the world is one enormous Newtonian clockwork: predictable, ordered, mechanical. However the challenge in foreign aid is that such biases are not aberrations or one-offs but a fundamental part of the rules of the game. What this all amounts to is a call for a more practical, attainable vision of development. Like this: Like Loading...
Elementary Statistics Course Online Statistics The Science of Decisions Beginner Approx. 4 months Assumes 6hr/wk (work at your own pace) Built by Join 54,986 Students Enroll in Course Start Free Course Free You get Instructor videos Learn by doing exercises and view project instructions Projects with reviews Stuck? Verified Certificate These features are available when you enroll View Trailer Course Summary NOTE: This course has been divided into two courses: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics. We live in a time of unprecedented access to information...data. Why Take This Course? The applications of statistics to everyday lifeMethods for acquiring data through observation and experimentationTo organize and describe quantitative and categorical forms of dataAnticipating patterns using basic probability and sampling Statistical inference through estimation and hypothesis testingCorrelation and simple regressionWays of describing the strength of relationships between variables Prerequisites and Requirements What Will I Learn? Syllabus
A deterministic statistical machine As Roger pointed out the most recent batch of Y Combinator startups included a bunch of data-focused companies. One of these companies, StatWing, is a web-based tool for data analysis that looks like an improvement on SPSS with more plain text, more visualization, and a lot of the technical statistical details “under the hood”. I first read about StatWing on TechCrunch, where the title, “How Statwing Makes It Easier To Ask Questions About Data So You Don’t Have To Hire a Statistical Wizard”. StatWing looks super user-friendly and the idea of democratizing statistical analysis so more people can access these ideas is something that appeals to me. So I started thinking about what kind of software would prevent these sort of problems while still being accessible to a big audience. The advantage is that people can get their data-related questions answered using a standard tool. The DSM should be a web service that is easy to use.
Welcome — Statistics Done Wrong Cartogram Types What is a Cartogram? Borden D. Dent in the fourth edition of his book "Cartography Thematic Map Design" begins his chapter on cartograms this way: "Erwin Raisz called cartograms 'diagrammatic maps.' Today they might be called cartograms, value-by-area maps, anamorphated images or simply spatial transformations. A cartogram is a type of graphic that depicts attributes of geographic objects as the object's area. The difference between these two types of non-contiguous cartograms is a significant one. PSEUDO-CARTOGRAMS Pseudo-cartograms (or false cartograms) are representations that may look like cartograms but do not follow certain cartogram rules.
For a new kind of professor, teaching comes first When York University begins advertising to hire new professors this fall, the job descriptions will have an important distinction: The new hires will focus on teaching, and will not be required to do research like their colleagues. York’s plan to bring in about 200 such faculty over several years is one of the most expansive of the initiatives at Canadian universities over the past several years to introduce a new breed of faculty member – the teaching-focused professor. Under growing pressure to improve teaching quality, due in no small part to constrained funding and swelling class sizes, more than a dozen schools of all sizes across Canada, with some notable exceptions, have gradually created a permanent teaching stream. Professors have long been expected to spend about 40 per cent of their time teaching, 40 per cent on research, and the rest doing committee or community work. “When you’re also a researcher, you’re a different kind of teacher. Students are similarly divided.
Training Series On How To Work With USAID Ghana school under the trees: School under the trees in the Northern Region Ghana Welcome to our training series on “How to Work with USAID.” En Español | Em Portugues | An Kreyòl This online training series is designed to answer some of the most frequently raised questions and concerns from organizations interested in partnering with USAID. Here you will find open and transparent guidance straight from USAID staff. Whether you’re a non-governmental organization or small business just starting out, a large university looking to expand your outreach, or somewhere in between, we value your interest in USAID and want to make it easier to work with us. The majority of USAID's funds are awarded competitively through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. This online training program allows you to learn at your own pace. Click on the hyperlinks below to access each e-module. Nepalese children holding school exercise books produced by USAID Coming Soon!
The Biggest Myth About P-Values Ninety years ago, Ronald Fisher changed science forever. With his book, Statistical Methods for Researchers, the eminent English statistician popularized P values for measuring statistical significance in a scientific result, noting, almost as an afterthought, "Personally, the writer prefers to set a low standard of significance at the 5 percent point..." P = 0.05 was born, and, as computer scientist Robert Matthews critiqued years later, scientists were bestowed with a "mathematical machine for turning baloney into breakthroughs, and flukes into funding." Researchers in a great many disciplines now operate on Fisher's personal recommendation for significance. "In other words, the operational meaning of a P value less than .05 was merely that one should repeat the experiment," Johns Hopkins biostatistician Steven Goodman interpreted. The largest reason for this sorry state of affairs is a pervasive myth about the P value. Other scientists would prefer to ditch P values altogether.