William M. Briggs

Consensus Members Agree To Agree: Breaking Story

The agreement amongst climatologists who agree that mankind will cause devastating climate change is popularly known as "The Consensus." Those who agree with the consensus are part of the consensus;…

Fun Statistics

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest: Kobayahsi Arrested! Records and Statistics

Sonna no uso da! Fuzakeruna yo! Were those the words of ex-champ Takeru Kobayahsi as he brazenly stormed the stage at the ninety-fifth annual Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest yesterday?…

Fun Statistics

World Cup Statistics and Predictions for the Final

A prediction (made on Monday, 28 June) verified: Although---and this has nothing to do with the issue at hand---Argentina's goaltender Sergio Romero stinks, and that's putting it nicely. Every shot…

Statistics

FBI Homicide Statistics: What Are You Most Likely To Be Killed With?

It's the start of a long weekend and the time for a diversion. It's the fourth of July weekend and our lesson is: if you older than 50, beware strangers…

Statistics

Siena Presidential Scholar President Rankings: Are They Biased?

The Siena Research Institute asked 238 presidential scholars to rank each president from 1 (best) to worst (43) in nineteen different categories, plus one overall ranking. A complete list of…

Culture

In Defense of World Cup Enjoyment: A Response to Dalrymple

The much loved, and surely respected, Theodore Dalrymple does not like soccer. He says of soccer fans, "Try as I might to expunge the thought from my mind that this…

Philosophy Statistics

In Defense of Dogmatism

In so far as I have a coherent philosophy of statistics, I hope it is "robust" enough to cope in principle with the whole of statistics, and sufficiently undogmatic not…

Philosophy Statistics

Tricky Probability Problem: Chance of Two Sons, One Born on Tuesday?

Thanks to reader Matt Lewis who sent me this link. Martin Gardner, may he rest in peace, gave us a delicious probability problem: Suppose that Mrs Smith has two children,…

Francois Stallbom on On That “Bombshell German Study” That “Exposes the PCR Test Fraud That Locked Down the World”November 22, 2025
Yes Cary, mud and pineapples tested positive as well! What a sham.
Academics Demand Mandatory Chemical Moral Bioenhancement To Make You More Compliant To Coronadoom Restrictions – William M. Briggs on A Pill To Eliminate Racism? What’ll Science Think Of Next!November 21, 2025
[…] academics want to feed us propranolol to reduce racism. The strangest is a short Chinaman who wants to make…
Briggs on Class 72: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Wrong WayNovember 21, 2025
Uncle Mike, By a strange coincidence, you hit upon the very example I used in the class after Thanksgiving. Pr("loaded"…
Uncle Mike on Class 72: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Wrong WayNovember 21, 2025
What if you rolled a six-sided die 60 times and scored a 10 for each side (1-10, 2-10, 3-10, 4-10,…
Ronald Conneely on Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says ResearcherNovember 20, 2025
Great analysis as usual but be careful, you are bordering on that dreded (R----t) area. Would hate to lose your…

William M. Briggs

Class 72: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Wrong Way

Black Women Can’t Do Physics As Well As White Men, Says Researcher

On That “Bombshell German Study” That “Exposes the PCR Test Fraud That Locked Down the World”

Masking Morality With Science: Men Pretending To Be Women In Sports

Why Study Probability?

The Dysgenics Of IVF

In Which An Atheist Becomes Sputteringly Angry Over Theist’s Argument

Academics Debate Which Term Best Describes Those Who Love (in that way) Their Pillows

Class 71: Never Trust ‘Research Shows’ Headlines: We Bring Cause To Data

Diversity Patrol Scanning Citations For Victims

Little Nate’s Plan To Save The World

Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education Causes Mass Squealing

Stay The Course: Have Some Class

Last Call For Alcohol-Cancer Papers

UFO Hits United Flight. All Survive. This Time!

Changes Are Coming: Our Return to 1970s

Class 70: Most Claims Of “Controlled For” Are Wrong: The Right Way

The Triumph Of The Feminine

At What Point Does Transsexualism Become A Conservative Value?

The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had

Class 69: Why Parameters Don’t Exist