Posted inBook review Culture
10 Books To Read Before You Die
G.K. Chesterton was asked what book would he most like to have with him on a desert island. Slick as ever, he said, Thomas's Guide to Practical Shipbuilding. And then…
Posted inBook review Culture
Fads and Fallacies in the Social Sciences by Steven Goldberg: Part IV
This article summarizes the main statistical arguments and the one logical argument used for and against Goldberg's ideas. To be clear: I am convinced by his arguments in the main…
Posted inBook review Culture
Fads and Fallacies in the Social Sciences by Steven Goldberg: Part III
Part I Part II If we thought the last topic was contentious, and it was, then I'm not sure how to class these items. Merely mentioning them will raise blood…
Posted inBook review Culture
Fads and Fallacies in the Social Sciences by Steven Goldberg: Part II
Part I We now discuss the first two of Goldberg's main claims. Both of them are contentious, are bitterly contested, and passion inducing. Try to keep a cool head; certainly…
Posted inPhilosophy Statistics
Models, theories, consistency, and truth
Ready? Put on your best straight face, recall that global temperatures have not increased for a decade, and that it's actually been getting cooler, then repeat with Brenda Ekwurzel, of…
Posted inStatistics
Coin, queries, and screening
Work has caught up with me yet again, so here are three interesting stories to wile the time away. The probability of a coin flip Reader Ari Schwartz sent in…
Taking stock in the track: horse races and brokerages
This column was inspired by an interview I did with sports reporter Mark McGuire at the Albany Times Union. His story, in anticipation of the Saratoga races, can be found…
Posted inPhilosophy
The strange insignificance of statistical significance
Who is more likely to support the death penalty: college undergraduates from a "nationally-ranked Midwestern university with an enrollment of slightly more than 20,000" majoring in social work, or those…