Statistics – Page 233 – William M. Briggs

No Religion Is Third-Largest World Group: Or, How Inaccurate Are Surveys On Religious Belief?

The actual headline at Reuters was "No religion" is the third-largest world group after Christians, Muslim, but my expurgated version is close enough. It's also similar to many of the…

Philosophy Statistics

The Data Is The Data, Not The Model: With Climatology Time Series Example

How not to plot The following plot was sent to me yesterday for comment. I cannot disclose the sender, nor the nature of the data, but neither of these are…

Statistics

On-Line Statistics Course: Ideas And Your Opinions

We talked about this a couple of months ago, but now the time is nigh to build and create an on-line statistics course, or courses. There are several problems: content,…

Culture Statistics

Were Medications Responsible For The Connecticut Lanza Murders?

Some are speculating that the evil, and thank God dead, Adam Lanza was on SSRIs, which are medications designed to mess with your mind (in the pleasantest of ways), and…

Statistics

Politico’s Biased Reporting Of Its Own Poll

Today's post is over at Legal Insurrection. The headline, helpfully supplied by William Jacobson, is "Politico poll showing 'plurality support' for gay marriage also shows majority opposition." Headline writing is…

Culture Statistics

What Can We Learn From A Crude Model Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases?

It's Statistical Modeling Day, so let's look at one dealing with sexually transmitted diseases. Why this subject? Well, according to New York's CBS 2, "Study Shows Soaring STD Rates In…

Philosophy Statistics

What Does The Regression Equation Mean? Causality? Something Else?

Saw this tweet this fine morning: https://twitter.com/MarkThoma/status/276542962622668800 and downloaded the paper at the landing site, co-authored by Judea Pearl, he of Causality fame (a recommended book). Pearl and a co-author…

Culture Statistics

We Will Soon All Be Mentally Ill: DSM V & Testing All Children For Mental Disease

"The history of psychiatry is littered with fad diagnoses that in retrospect did far more harm than good," says doctor Allen Frances, the chairman of the DSM-IV Task Force and…

Brian (bulaoren) on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
Cary At least your father had the gumption to take responsibility for the means and time of his exit. Can…
Cary D Cotterman on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
When my dad got to the reasonably foreseeable stage, he provisioned himself with the help of his handy .32 magnum…
Brian (bulaoren) on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
Back in the 1970s, I went to college in Montreal. My Canadian counterparts were, on the whole, a pretty likable…
Faith on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
I know it's difficult for you, China, but do try to stay on point. Shelley had the usual liberal ideas…
henry chinaski on Canada Invents New Euphemism For Doctor KillingsDecember 29, 2025
“Man has no right to kill his brother. It is no excuse that he does so in uniform: he only…