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Statistical Studies - Tuesday 2/2/2016



Ok, today didn't go exactly as planned. If you saw the blog post I had up planned for today... we will get to that, but I incorrectly estimated how long some work would take you. Not your fault. You guys just move so fast through most material!

You are working on the Statistical Studies topic on Khan Academy. It is not easy. That is okay. You don't have to get frustrated, or discouraged, or stressed. If it takes longer than I thought it would, I'll give you more time.

Some good insights from the classwork:

  • Go straight to the exercises, but go back to the videos if you are stuck
  • If the videos feel too long, you can speed up playback (in the options menu, click the gear button). 1.25x isn't even noticeable. 1.5x is, but if you listen for a while you get used to it and can switch to 2x
  • An "experiment" involves splitting a subset of the population you are looking at into two groups: one called the "control", who don't do anything different, and the experiment group, who you do something different with. An experimental study is for when you want to see what changes when you do something new.
  • An observational study involves looking at the whole population you want to talk about. You don't change anything, just observe.
  • A sample study is when you only find out information about a subset (a "sample") of the population you want to talk about. You have to take that sample randomly, or you can't draw valid conclusions.
    • The example I gave in class: If you want to know "are Californians happy?" and you stand in front of a cemetery and ask everyone coming out, you will probably come to the conclusion that Californians aren't happy. This was a "biased sample" and you can't actually draw any conclusions from your poorly-designed experiment.

I will not be there on Thursday, but you are going to try to have all seven exercises from the Statistical Studies topic done by end of class. If you aren't done, no worries, keep working as homework. If you do finish, do review on Khan Academy and pat yourself on the back. See you Monday!

PS - KEEP TRACK OF YOUR FELTRON DATA!!!

Comments

Unknown said…
Also, if you have any helpful hints for any of the exercises, be a helper and leave them here! Your classmates will appreciate you forever and ever and build a monument to your generosity.
February 2, 2016 at 3:26 PM
Unknown said…
Sam i am having trouble on my feltron can you help me on thursday
February 2, 2016 at 7:42 PM
Unknown said…
Hi Sam, I just wanted to let you know that I don't get the email with the form everyday
February 3, 2016 at 8:05 PM
Unknown said…
Yeah, also you can email me
February 7, 2016 at 2:06 PM
Unknown said…
Ok we can work on it this week.
February 7, 2016 at 2:06 PM
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