Am I the only one who doesn't get Statistics?

Re: Re: Am I the only one who doesn't get Statistics?

I had a different instructor. He was pretty good about responding to emails.

I did not enter the course with loads of apprehension - that developed as the class progressed.

But as was mentioned previously, I have escaped!

clint

 

Re: Re: Re: Am I the only one who doesn't get Statistics?

ROFLMBO

If you ever take stats again in the future, you will now have apprehension about it before you enter the class because now you know what it's like!!!!

 

Last night we had dinner with a couple. We were discussing statistics and dissertations. The husband has a PhD in Econometrics.

He sat in on a defense where the candidate had farmed out her statistical analysis. Unfortunately, she did not really understand why certain tests had been done, nor have a good understanding of why the numbers were supporting her research. She was unable to complete the defense and had to reschedule when she had properly prepared.

The wife (uncertain what her doctorate is in) mentioned it was not that unusual for candidates in the social sciences to farm out their analyses to stats people at the university. While many doctoral programs may not require you do your own number crunching, there is a requirement to understand the why's and what-nots of what you are presenting.

 

I concur with the comment that learning stats is an iterative process.

But for the confused, doomed and eager, I can recommend Deborah Rumsey's entertaining book "Statistics for Dummies" and the companion solved exercises in "Statistics Workbook for Dummies." Blending lively contemporary examples (eg, basketball teams salaries) is one reason; exemplary wrting and graphics style is another; and a background in teaching prizes in the subject can't hurt. Another "Dummies" winner!

Of course, this is only elementary descriptive stats. But if you're curious about what you took and still don't get it, here's a solid place to slake your curiosity.

 

Most learning is a layered process in my experience:-

learn the nomenclature
learn what it means / how it connects
comprhend how it all fits together as a whole

 

I actually enjoyed my Quantitative Analysis class at IU - likely because we did a lot of modeling examples that mirrored the real world, using tools like @Risk, KADD and linear programming. Exams were simulations and models using Excel.

This differed greatly from Undergrad stats which was much more focused on the formulae. Not to say that my grad course was easy (it definitely wasn't) but it had a practicality that I can apply to my workplace.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Several years ago I took "quantitative methods" at the undergradute level and I got a B in the class, but frantkly, I didn't know what the he11 I did. I still don't know, after all these years.