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It's easy to lie with statistics; it is easier to lie without them.
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It's easy to lie with statistics; it is easier to lie without them.
This web area offers some additional support for the STAT2023: Elementary Statistics for Business and Economics course taught by Professor Forsberg. Please make good use of the material here. There are items available for most of the thirteen chapters. Some will be helpful to you; others may not. The key is to never give up.
To help you on your way, here is a video telling you about the importance of statistics in the world we experience daily. As you watch the video notice how many backgrounds use statistics, ranging from scientists to musicians. The problems statisticians deal with in this video include human rights, Google responses, cancer DNA, and business analytics. Statistics is all around us, and its importance will only grow in the future.
| :::::: | The Three Basic Parts of a Statistics Course | :::::: |
The typical introductory statistics course can be divided into three main parts. The first covers describing and summarizing data. In an effort to impart the importance of variability, the second part covers probability. The final, and lengthiest, part covers statistical inference. Typically, the first two parts take the first half of a course; the last part, the rest.
The video to the left is a short video showing the relationship between a “scientific method” and science statistics. While Feynman makes several points, the most important can be found between 1:01 and 2:22. Statistics is about collecting and presenting evidence. It is not about proof. Is it possible that a fair coin will come up heads 1000 times in a row? Yes. However, if it happens, I will bet every dollar I have that the coin is not fair. Can Santa Claus exist? Yes. However, the probability of this event is so incredibly low that I will stake my reputation that he does not exist… with the understanding that I really could be wrong.
The second major point made by Feynamn can be found between 3:46 and 5:10. We can never prove a theory (hypothesis) right. We can only prove them wrong. This will be important when we get to hypothesis testing in the second half of the course.
The key is this: Statistics is about evidence, not proof. If you want certainty and proof, then I am sure there is room in a philosophy course for you. If you do not see the randomness of life, you only have to sit at Theta Pond and watch the geese, or sit at the intersection of Monroe and University and watch the drivers, or sit in class and see the test scores.
Properly summarizing your observations is an important skill, as it allows you to better understand what you have seen. Chapters 2 and 3 cover these topics. Chapter 2 covers graphics, and Chapter 3 covers summary statistics.
The second part of the course covers uncertainty in the world — probability. Chapter 4 covers basic probability rules. Chapters 5 and 6 cover several different probability distributions. Note that without probability, statistics is nothing more than Chapter 3.
Arguably, this is the most important part in any course on introductory statistics. These chapters, 7 through 13, show you how to draw appropriate conclusions about the population given a mere sample from it.
The End-of-Chapter problems are excellent for testing your ability on the topics of that chapter. This is a drawback, because you know exactly what chapter to study. To eliminate that weakness, I also have assignments that cover more than just the current chapter. These assignments test if you have a broader understanding of statistics. To see some previous practicum assignments — and solutions — just click here.
| :::::: | Final Words | :::::: |
And that is the term. To remind you why studying statistics is so important, I leave you with the famous video by Hans Rosling, a professor of international health.
In this video, we once again see that the major problem of statistics is not learning, but unlearning what is wrong.
Enjoy!