Posted inPhilosophy
Mr. Word’s definition of the day: to change
"To alter; to make different; to cause to pass from one state to another; as, to change the position, character, or appearance of a thing; to change the countenance." --…
Posted inStatistics
How much does winning Iowa and New Hampshire help?
On the earlier poll thread, a reader asked "What's your opinion about the statistical summary of past results of Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries?" pointing out data from Neatorama.com.…
Posted inFun
Mr. Word’s definition of the day: to gush
"To make a sentimental or untimely exhibition of affection; to display enthusiasm in a silly, demonstrative manner." -- Webster, 1913. For example, this snippet from today's New York Times editorial.…
Posted inStatistics
73.2% of Likely Voters Believe Poll Results
Pollster: Who will you vote for? Civilian: Oh, I don't know; that guy, the tall one. Pollster: I'll put you down for Obama. The elections in Iowa are over and…
Oil prices through time: a well-done graph
Source: Wall Street Journal This image, shrunk 50% from it's original size, is a very well-done statistical graph. It shows, in the pale green line, the inflation-adjusted price of a…
Frank Furedi on the global warming apocalypse
Frank Fuerdi, of Spiked Online, has a delightful article on the daily barrage of panic we hear, in which he says, "In the past year, the threat of doom ?…
Posted inBook review
Calculated Risks: How to know when numbers deceive you: Gerd Gigerenzer
Gerd Gigerenzer, Simon and Schuster, New York, 310 pp., ISBN 0-7432-0556-1, $25.00 Should healthy women get regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer? The surprising answer, according to this wonderful…
Posted inStatistics
Hurricanes have not increased: misuse of running means
Most statistics purporting to show that there has been an increase in hurricanes do not use the best statistical methods. I want to highlight one particular method that is often…