Posted inStatistics
On The Kaya Identity
A reader asked about my take on the Kaya wars that are flaming at Anthony Watts's place. Here is the form of the Kaya Identity, which is to say, the…
Posted inStatistics
Class Report: How Not To Teach Statistics
It's over. Two solid weeks of 9 to 5 to 9 and beyond statistics. Plus a few cocktails and cookouts and camaraderie. I'm exhausted. The students are mostly later early…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
The Biggest Error In Regression
I know, I know: we're sick to death of regression, but we have to cover the biggest error, which is how the Deadly Sin of Reification happens. You have a…
Posted inStatistics
The Cult Of The Parameter!
Carla Antonaccio has written, "The term cult identifies a pattern of ritual behavior in connection with specific objects, within a framework of spatial and temporal coordinates. Rituals would include (but…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
The Deadly Sin Of Reification! Day Three
Zeno Phobia Counting day. How many ways can you skin a cat if the number of sharp versus dull knives is this and such. Simple stuff, easy to get the…
Posted inStatistics
Failed Counterexamples To The Principle Of Indifference
What is the so-called Principle Of Indifference? A semi-screwy, semi-right idea in probability. To cadge an example from David Stove, let T be any tautology (a truth), then Pr(Bob…
Posted inStatistics
Foreclosures Causing Suicides?
Remember our discussion of the Spurious Correlations website, nicely paired with the Regression Isn't What You Think post? The two keys points of both are the (a) "statistically significant" correlations,…
Posted inStatistics
Regression Isn’t What You Think
We've done regression a hundred times, but it isn't sticking. That means my explanations are failing. Let me try again. Everybody knows normal distributions, i.e. bell-shaped curves: in shorthand N(m,s),…