Tweet In the previous post we surveyed some of the areas where statistics are essential in the disciplines, ending that there was insufficient space to cover statistics in governance. While governance covers a broad range of activities, for now let us just explore government and, more specifically, a democracy. In democracy, citizens vote on who should […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Eight
Tweet In this series we have looked at the application of statistics in a few areas with the central theme that statistics deals with the representation of large volumes of historical data points in order to make predictions about the future and decisions about what path or road to take. We know where to go […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Seven
Tweet We finished Part Six of this series by referencing the terms mean, mode and median. What do these terms tell us statistically? To explore them, consider the following fictional set of data about the appraised value of a set of houses in a small cluster of homes. Number of Houses Value ($K) 1 […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Six
Tweet In the previous part of this series, we identified several areas where statistics play a major role in the decision making and management of a field or industry. Moving to greater detail, a good place to start is insurance, something we all purchase based on fear or required by law. In 1653, Lorenzo de […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Five
Tweet In the previous part of this series we looked at baseball and the emergence and growth of statistics in the game. From a casual perspective, a player’s batting average tells you, to three decimal places, the historical probability of getting a hit (getting on base by hitting the ball in fair territory) the next […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Four
Tweet In the previous column (Part Three) we ended with a question about statistics and its uses – investing, making money, providing governance, managing the budget, making choices, or something else. As an example, consider baseball, professional baseball. For the vast majority of us, baseball is a form of entertainment as well as a sometimes […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Three
Tweet At the end of part two of this series, two charts on deaths in the United States (reproduced below) were presented and I asked the question “What do they tell you?” These charts present data (statistics) from two sources for the year 2013, which is not indicated on the graphics. The […]
Statistics (and Probability) – Part Two
Tweet In the previous post we looked at nuclear cross sections as the probability of a nuclear interaction and noted that the cross section is a statistic derived through experimentation. If the statistic was measured incorrectly, the nuclear reactor would fizzle and a mess would result. But what if the measurement dealt with people and was […]
Risks, Rewards and Responsibilities (Part Three)
Tweet In the first two parts of this series, we examined risk and rewards, albeit somewhat simplistically. It becomes significantly more complicated when you consider responsibility, individually and collectively. Let’s begin by quickly returning to the bubble model. As individuals we are represented by as individual bubbles but we can be part of larger bubbles […]
Risks, Rewards and Responsibilities (Part Two)
Tweet In the previous post we examined risk as a function of probability and explored the concept of expected value to be received if it goes our way. This is a great way to determine if a risk is worthwhile and promises a positive return for your investment. Return on investment implies that the decision is […]
