Brandon

So.. I'm taking a Statistics course this semester. How is it and what can I expect? I like using statistics theories and what not, relating it back to baseball lol.. but what else does it contain?

Anyone else take the course before?

Dr. Giganto

It's probably not going to be very interesting, actually. You'll probably just learn the basics, like calculating the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, etc.

You'll probably learn about the normal distribution (the "Bell Curve").

Then, you'll probably learn about the statistical "tests" that you use. Basically, you'll be given a set of data, and you have to find the mean (average) value of that data. Then, you test to see how probable it is that the value you got is equal to a certain value. (i.e., let's say you take an average of a bunch of numbers at it comes out to .25, you would test to see if it is "statistically different" from zero.)

Quick intro lesson:

The biggest concept to understand is sample size. Case in point: Let's say you flip a coin and it comes up heads three times in a row. If you made the assumption "This coin is rigged and will come up heads more times than tails", the data would support that claim, since it came up heads every time. However, it was only three flips, and if you use the statistical tests, the conclusion you would find was that it is not enough flips to get a reliable result. Basically, the sample is too small.

Now, let's say you flipped the coin 100 times and it came up heads 90 times. Then, you would probably be able to say that the coin is rigged.

Or, think of it like in baseball. Let's say a career .230 hitter hits .400 in the first week of the season. Would you say "Oh, this guy has turned it around and is a good hitter now?" Probably not, because it's only like 20 at-bats and he could have just gotten lucky (Been on a hot streak). But if it's halfway through the season and he's batting like .350, then it's probably not a fluke. The sample of at-bats is large enough that you have a pretty good estimate of the guy's "true" talent level, by using the .350 batting average

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Brandon

Thanks. I was hoping for some problem solving and what not.. I really don't know how they're going to handle this.. I'm guessing basic shit, but I hope the professor at least gives us a few fun little things to do to incorporate what we've learned or else this might suck a big one..

Dakstang

Oh my God...

I had a Social Statistics class when I went to Marshall University because for some reason it was required. We covered that stuff and I didn't understand ANY of it. It probably didn't help that we had a Korean teacher that didn't speak much english either. I dropped it halfway through the semester because it was way too hard.

One of the reasons I left Marshall for a University that didn't require a statistics course.

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There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no more pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

Inogenius

This sounds a lot like the data discussed in the book, Freakonomics.

Tonight I'm analyzing data from the US Census bureau to determine what "we," as in the company I work for, consider to be urban and hispanic areas. Sort of like statistics, but not really.

I haven't taken Stats though. I'm actually scheduled to take it 9/8/2008-12/20/2008. I'm not too worried -- maybe I should be. I'm moreso worried about this freaking capstone Accounting class.

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Brandon

I'm not so much worried about it.. I'm kind of a driven person. I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything, I just get fucking pissed off if I don't understand something and I beat it into my head.

Dakstang

I can handle anything but math related subjects.

I think I developed a mental block on math in middle school when we started Algebra.

It makes no sense and I saw no value in learning it. I never did either.

__________________

There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no more pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

Inogenius

I struggled at first with Algebra. Once I got the hang of it I did pretty well. There were times when I was like, "WTF why do I even care about this crap?"

And now I use Algebra every day. Not complex Algebra. Real basic stuff, but it's still algebra.

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Dakstang

I have never used Algebra outside of school and I never will.

I am just glad I never had to take it in college because I probably wouldn't have ever went if I would have had to.

__________________

There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no more pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

Assassin™

Statistics....
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Probably my least favorite class ever, and that's weird because I'm good at math. I thoroughly enjoyed Calculus, but Statistics had to be the most mind-numbing course I've ever taken, and lucky for me, I have to take a second semester of it some time soon ("Econometric Analysis" is what they named the continuation course, but it's the same shit). I also had a horrible teacher and a T.A. from Ghana, who I could understand about 10% of the time.

The thing I hated the most about the class is that by the end of the course, it took about an hour just to do one problem because concepts would be combined to where you had to solve so many different mini-problems just to get an answer, which sucked because if you mess up one digit or use the wrong version of a formula somewhere the whole thing was wrong.

Speaking of formulas, get ready to learn about 4 dozen useless ones, not to mention all the charts you have to use and the statistical tables you have to compile. If you don't have a graphing calculator, get one. It will become your best friend.

Before I took statistics, a friend of mine who took the class in high school told me that I'd probably just learn "the basics", and that it would just be another math class.

I'd kick him square in the balls right now if I had the chance.

I disagree thought about sample size being the "biggest concept" to understand. It's probably the easiest. You only need to worry about the size of a sample if you're doing confidence intervals. What's more important is to be able to correctly identify the set of data you're using as a sample or a population, seeing as how virtually every concept in the course has a separate formula/method for the two data set types.

As your example of a sample size being too small, it's not really true. A sample size can never be too small as long as you use the right notation and analyze it correctly. That's not to say that you can't just look at the context of a certain group of data and, through your own judgment, come to the conclusion that it's not reliable, but that's really got nothing to with statistics.