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GREAT charts! (not numbers, but, whatever)

By ⋅ August 7, 2017 ⋅ Post a comment

http://flowingdata.com/famous-movie-quotes-as-charts/

Teach about confirmation bias. Please.

By ⋅ September 12, 2016 ⋅ Post a comment

I am on a mission to spread the news of this transformational (yes!) exercise for all teachers of all subjects, but especially scientists. It is called the Wason* 2-4-6 Task, (I’ve seen it referred to as the 2-4-8 test). It is the best exercise I’ve ever seen for demonstrating the perils of confirmation bias.  It [...]

Fabulous correlations

By ⋅ October 15, 2014 ⋅ Post a comment

Who would have thought that you can predict the number of drivers killed in collisions by monitoring US crude oil imports from Norway.  Actually, shockingly, this one of those correlation vs causation things.  Check out the excellent collection kept by Tyler Vigen at: Spurious correlations   (thanks to Dr. David Streiner for alerting us to [...]

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Birth of the Blog

This blog, like the book Lab Math from which it springs (incompletely formed), will be about numbers. I will endeavor to:

1. showcase the basic and the practical, not the challenging or even the advanced;

2.. provide straightforward guidance for the unenthusiastic (“just do it exactly this way”);

3.. provide refreshers for those needing refreshment (whether they know it or not.)