Statistics – Page 276 – William M. Briggs

Feigned Surprises of the Week: Journolist and Our New Tax

Said the main-stream journalist on Journolist, "If they of the right wing don't behave and treat our Golden Boy properly, we'll call them racists. It matters not whom we pick…

Fun Statistics

A Bust—I mean must—Read; Or, An Evolution in Bra Sizes

"Excuse me, miss. Would you care to participate in science?" Sometimes being a statistician is enviable. In a flash of scientific brilliance, Australian statisticians have just completed a massive study…

Fun Statistics

M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, and John Wayne

Part II of the Two-Envelope problem was not too friendly, so here's something that is. Via HotAir, I came across the site Marginal Revolution, in which was featured a graph…

Philosophy Statistics

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part II

Read Part I first. We are in the peek first game here. The distribution of N When X is odd, and all X are discrete, we know we should always…

Philosophy Statistics

The Two-Envelope Problem Solution: Part I

Another probability "paradox", the two-envelope problem1, goes like this: Before you are two envelopes, A and B. One of them contains $X and the other $2X (which is equivalent to…

Statistics

St Petersburg Paradox; Games and Statistical Decisions; RIP David Blackwell

David Blackwell, who died two weeks ago, was one of the first mainstream statisticians to "go Bayesian." And for that and his unique skill in clearly explaining difficult ideas, we…

Statistics

How to Fool Yourself—And Others—With Statistics

See the news box to the left. I wrote this long ago and never used it. I do not love it. But since I am so busy, I haven't the…

Statistics

US Military Fatality Statistics: Have Suicides Increased?

All statistics were gathered from this DOD site. 2010 numbers were current as of 5 June this year; they were not part of the plots below. In 1983, the year…

C-Marie on Reader Opinion Requested: What Science Do You Find Sketchy, Exaggerated Or Wrong?July 15, 2025
I do not have a clue, but I am sooo impressed with so many replies and amazing understanding! God bless,…
houska on Reader Opinion Requested: What Science Do You Find Sketchy, Exaggerated Or Wrong?July 14, 2025
Here's some bad think from MIT and Princeton: "PHYSICS DEMONSTRATES THAT INCREASING GREENHOUSE GASES CANNOT CAUSE DANGEROUS WARMING, EXTREME WEATHER…
Scott Locklin on Reader Opinion Requested: What Science Do You Find Sketchy, Exaggerated Or Wrong?July 14, 2025
Well I could mention nutrition and exercise science. Also drug discovery. I'm not sure statins actually help anybody, but I…
Sigmund Fraud on Reader Opinion Requested: What Science Do You Find Sketchy, Exaggerated Or Wrong?July 14, 2025
Psychology followed closely by Sociology. They are pretty neck and neck for the top sketchy positions.
hudbwu on Reader Opinion Requested: What Science Do You Find Sketchy, Exaggerated Or Wrong?July 14, 2025
Recently, I was interested in religious observance in Europe, both west and east. It's surprisingly difficult to find good numbers…