Effort is the Key to Success -
There is no Shortcut

Economics
Money (and why it is good)

Psychology
Why we think what we think (we think)

Life
Biology

 Who?
Anthropology

History
What, Where and When?

Why?
Philosophy

How?
Engineering

How much?
Accounting

Statistics
Variation
Data varies.
People are different.
We have to make decisions on data because no one is perfect

Why Statistics?
 Everywhere
 Applications
 Needed for college
 Interesting

Cartoon from textbook

Case Study
 Robert Martin turned 55 in 1991.
 Worked for Westvaco
Corporation
 Was laid off.
 He claims it was because of age.
 Use of statistics to prove.

Exploration
 Informal
 Gathering of Data
 Open ended examination of data for patterns
 Use of graphs etc.

Data cartoon from Textbook

Statistics
Introduction

Data Collection
• Let’s collect some data
• Simple graphs

S_A_I_T_C_
1.
A W Q C T
2.
Y Q H U M
3.
I T T S S
4.
L U M W K

Sometime every day of your life you will encounter meeting with some sort of data or statistical study.

Do you agree?
1.
Yes
2.
No

What is your class?
1.
Freshman
2.
Sophomore
3.
Junior
4.
Senior

How much money do you carry?
1.
$0-5
2.
$6-10
3.
$11-20
4.
$21-100
5.
More than
$100

How many pairs of shoes do you own?
1.
1
2.
2-4
3.
5-6
4.
More than 7 pair

Boys # shoes
1.
1
2.
2-4
3.
5-6
4.
More than 7

Girls: # shoes
1.
1
2.
2-4
3.
5-6
4.
More than 7

How much sleep did you get last night?
1.
0-4 hours
2.
5-6
3.
7-8
4.
More than 8 hours

Which do you prefer for dating?
1.
I can’t yet, I am too young
2.
Older dates
3.
Younger dates
4.
Blind dates

Are you satisfied with your schedule?
1.
This will be my best year yet
2.
Why did I get put into some of the classes?
3.
I’m just here because I am required to be here
4.
I’m going to my counselor to change my schedule

Inference
 Follows strict rules
 Judges if things you found are what you expect
 Decide if evidence proves

Statistics?
 Statistics is a way of reasoning, along with a collection of tools and methods, designed to help us understand the world.
 Statistics (plural) are particular calculations made from data.
 Statistics is about how to think clearly about data.

Let’s Get started
One of the interesting challenges of
Statistics is that, unlike some math and science classes, there can be more than one answer.

2 right answers?
 People make mistakes sometimes intentionally
 Some mistakes are unintentional
 Some mistakes are on purpose to mislead
 Sometimes the method causes mistakes

Equation challenge
 Equations are for expressing a mathematical idea concisely and are not the main point of statistics.
 In Statistics we think about a problem, find and show results and tell others what you have discovered.

 Who
 What (and in what units)
 When
 Where
 Why
 How
The W’s

Exercise


Think
Identify the W’s
 Find variables
 Classify
 Identify units

Oscars
 Ages of Oscar-winning Best Actors and
Actresses by Richard Brown and Gretchen
Davis gives the ages of actors and actresses at the time they won Oscars. We might use these data to see whether actors and actresses are likely to win Oscars at about the same age or not.

Weighing Bears
 Because of the difficulty of weighing a bear in the woods, researchers caught and measured 54 bears, recording their weight, neck size, length, and sex. They hoped to find a way to estimate weight from the other, more easily determined quantities.

Arby’s Menu

A listing posted by the Arby’s restaurant chain gives, for each of the sandwiches it sells, the type of meat in the sandwich; the number of calories, and the serving size in ounces. The data might be used to assess the nutritional value of the different sandwiches.

Flowers
 In a study appearing in the journal Science a research team reports that plants in southern
England are flowering earlier in the spring.
Records of the first flowering dates for 385 species over a period of 47 years indicate that flowering has advanced an average of 15 days per decade, and indication of climate warming according to the authors.

Fitness
 Are physically fit people less likely to die of cancer? An article in the May 2002 issue of
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise reported results of a study that followed 25,892 men aged 30 to 87 for 10 years. The most physically fit men had a 55% lower risk of death from cancer than the least fit group.

Schools
 The State Education Department requires local school districts to keep these records on all studies: age, race or ethnicity, days absent, current grade level, standardized test scores in reading and mathematics, and any disabilities or special educational needs the student may have.

Cars
 A survey of autos parked in student and staff lots at a large university recorded the make, country of origin, type of vehicle (car, van
SUV, etc.), and age.

Age and Party
 The Gallup Poll conducted a representative telephone survey of 1180 American voters during the first quarter of 1999. Among the reported results were the voter’s region
(Northeast, South, etc.) age, part affiliation, and whether or not the person had voted in the
1998 midterm Congressional election.

Air Travel
 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) monitors airlines for safety and customer service. For each flight the carrier must report the type of aircraft, number of passengers, whether or not the flights departed and arrived on schedule, and any mechanical problems.

Materials needed for class
 TI 83 or TI84
 Notebook
 Highlighters
 Good attitude
 File Cards

Assignment
In the News
 Find a newspaper or magazine article in which some data are reported. For the data discussed in the article identify the W’s, name the variables, classify each variable as categorical or quantitative and identify the units. Include a copy of the article with your report.

Graph Exploration
 Find five or more different graphs and identify the type you think it is.