statistics:
I'd like to start with a quick apology. Sorry that both the abstract algebra and the new game theory posts have been moving so slowly. I've been a bit overwhelmed lately with things that need doing right away, and...
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Posted on April 14, 2008 1:19 PM • 12 Comments •
The first key concept in probability is called a random variable. Random variables are a key concept - but since they're a key concept of the frequentist school, they are alas, one of the things that bring out more...
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Posted on April 9, 2008 11:49 AM • 35 Comments •
To understand a lot of statistical ideas, you need to know about probability. The two fields are inextricably entwined: sampled statistics works because of probabilistic properties of populations. I approach writing about probability with no small amount of trepidation....
Posted on April 7, 2008 11:09 AM • 84 Comments •
Suppose you've got a bunch of data. You believe that there's a linear relationship between two of the values in that data, and you want to find out whether that relationship really exists, and if so, what the properties...
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Posted on March 27, 2008 2:19 PM • 34 Comments •
Several people have asked me to write a few basic posts on statistics. I've written a few basic posts on the subject - like, for example, this post on mean, median and mode. But I've never really started from...
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Posted on March 24, 2008 3:43 PM • 47 Comments •
Yet another reader sent me a great bad math link. (Keep 'em coming guys!) This one is an astonishingly nasty slight of hand, and a great example of how people misuse statistics to support a political agenda. It's by someone...
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Posted on January 18, 2007 5:03 PM • 34 Comments •
When we look at a the data for a population+ often the first thing we do is look at the mean. But even if we know that the distribution is perfectly normal, the mean isn't enough to tell us...
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Posted on January 18, 2007 1:58 PM • 30 Comments •
In general, when we gather data, we expect to see a particular pattern to the data, called a normal distribution. A normal distribution is one where the data is evenly distributed around the mean in a very regular way,...
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Posted on January 15, 2007 8:46 PM • 16 Comments •
Statistics is something that surrounds us every day - we're constantly bombarded with statistics, in the form of polls, tests, ratings, etc. Understanding those statistics can be an important thing, but unfortunately, most people have never been taught just...
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Posted on January 15, 2007 8:00 AM • 43 Comments •
While I was on vacation, I got some email from Chris Noble pointing me towards a discussion with some thoroughly innumerate HIV-AIDS denialists. It's really quite shocking what passes for a reasonable argument among true believers. The initial stupid statement...
Posted on September 4, 2006 12:54 PM • 90 Comments •
After yesterdays post about the sloppy probability from ann coulter's chat site, I thought it would be good to bring back one of the earliest posts on Good Math/Bad Math back when it was on blogger. As usual with reposts,...
Posted on August 15, 2006 9:48 AM • 22 Comments •
A reader sent me a copy of an article posted to "chat.anncoulter.com". I can't see the original article; anncoulter.com is a subscriber-only site, and I'll be damned before I register with that site. Fortunately, the reader sent me the entire...
Posted on August 14, 2006 9:27 AM • 40 Comments •
A reader sent me a link to yet another purported Bayesian argument for the existence of god, this time by a physicist named Stephen Unwin. It's actually very similar to Swinburne's argument, which I discussed back at the old home...
Posted on July 25, 2006 10:16 AM • 81 Comments •
Last night, a reader sent me a link to yet another wretched attempt to argue for the existence of God using Bayesian probability. I really hate that. Over the years, I've learned to dread Bayesian arguments, because so many of...
Posted on July 13, 2006 4:10 PM • 36 Comments •
Dishonest Dembski:the Universal Probability Bound One of the dishonest things that Dembski frequently does that really bugs me is take bogus arguments, and dress them up using mathematical terminology and verbosity to make them look more credible. An example of...
Posted on June 28, 2006 8:37 PM • 23 Comments •
As I've frequently said, statistics is an area which is poorly understood by most people, and as a result, it's an area which is commonly used to mislead people. The thing is, when you're working with statistics, it's easy to...
Posted on June 28, 2006 10:43 AM • 13 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
I recently got a real prize of a link from one of my readers. He'd enjoyed the Swinburne article, and had encoutered this monstrosity; an alleged probability of christianity argument significantly worse than Swinburne. The difference between Swinburne and this...
Posted on June 24, 2006 2:37 PM • 17 Comments •
I've gotten an absolutely unprecedented number of requests to write about RFK Jr's Rolling Stone article about the 2004 election. RFK Jr's article tries to argue that the 2004 election was stolen. It does a wretched, sloppy, irresponsible job of...
Posted on June 6, 2006 1:20 PM • 43 Comments •
