Within the last decade, the United States, and world alike, have both seen vast advances in technology present in households and daily life. Constant internet and social media access pollutes our society with those who constantly find their eyes dried by the impending information on their phones. Aside from texting, our phones, tablets, computers, and televisions present us with much over-looked information, like statistics. This knowledge is presented through reputable sources that litter the internet, so that viewers believe the information they are being fed. Statistics are very powerful; they are figures that are comparable to the absolute truth. Despite their apparent validity, those who generate these numbers are only human and are susceptible to errors, thus making statistics impure and unreliable. The world of statistics is one that may appear very precise at first glance, but with further investigation one can gather that there are many simple errors that may be made through no fault of the investigator. These discrepancies are divulged as a result of not meeting criterion required for a given value to be considered statistically valid. These requirements are numerous and similar, but ultimately, each holds a unique meaning. These include, but are not limited to, construct validity which ensures the experiment and information gathered coincide with the theory being tested. Subcategories of construct validity are inclusive of convergent and divergent validity,
Due to financial hardship, the Nyke shoe company feels they only need to make one size of shoes, regardless of gender or height. They have collected data on gender, shoe size, and height and have asked you to tell them if they can change their business model to include only one size of shoes – regardless of height or gender of the wearer. In no more 5-10 pages (including figures), explain your recommendations, using statistical evidence to support your findings. The data found are below:
Whether research is experimental or developmental, there are no guarantees of perfect study processes or results, since both random and systematic errors are expected. Errors and uncertainties of a study’s outcomes surface almost every time. Faulty, aged or incorrectly calibrated instruments, during an experiment, can lead to important alterations of results. Distracting environments definitely influence the outcome. Finally, the human parameter in the sense of having ability to properly operate instruments and correctly interpret measurements definitely consist another factor of imperfect research (Bell 7-9).
Topics Distribution of the sample mean. Central Limit Theorem. Confidence intervals for a population mean. Confidence intervals for a population proportion. Sample size for a given confidence level and margin of error (proportions). Poll articles. Hypotheses tests for a mean, and differences in means (independent and paired samples). Sample size and power of a test. Type I and Type II errors. You will be given a table of normal probabilities. You may wish to be familiar with the follow formulae and their application.
The internet has become so pervasive that 64% of internet users consider it a necessity (McKenna and Bargh, 57). As 64% of the population doesn’t suffer from mental health issues, it is clearly not the internet itself that leads to mental illness. The fear of new technology continually pervades society, starting with fearing the telephone and electricity. As long as there are new technological outlets developed, there will always be fear an superstition of their potential harm (McKenna and Bargh, 58). McKenna and Bargh believe that newspapers and media itself have falsely represented evidence in order
In order to maintain consistency throughout the study, each of the six subjects will utilise the same source for data collection. Due to the fact that sites vary in precision (number of decimal places), activity format and number of trials, this particular measure will assist in ensuring that the evidence used to address the claim is both accurate and reliable.
“40% of Americans check their phones within 5 minutes of waking up” and “They will later check them 50 times more that day”. These stats along with the
Damned Lies and Statistics Reflection Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best gives the reader a whole new perspective on the idea of quantitative data. His central argument is that just because someone gives you a statistic doesn’t mean that statistic is accurate. He informs people to pay attention to the statistics that they see and hear about. People naturally assume that because they are being given a number, that number has to be true. Joel Best teaches us to be more observant of numbers and to ask questions such as who is presenting these numbers and why they are presenting them.
| Based on explicit knowledge and this can be easy and fast to capture and analyse.Results can be generalised to larger populationsCan be repeated – therefore good test re-test reliability and validityStatistical analyses and interpretation are
While these and other statistics are alarming and troublesome, the idea is to deal with the
Reliability refers to coherence, stability and dependability in test results, generally using internal consistency to express the levels of reliability in the test. The higher reliability indicates the higher level of accordance, stabilization and dependability in test results. Reliability is the precondition of validity (Guba and Lincoln, 1981). The same findings may not generate if the same research is repeated, because many influencing factors may work in the process of research. The process of establishment in reliability research includes: the research rigorously collect and explain data in consistent investigation (internal checks); the process is transparent (sample design, field work, inquiry and rational data). Patton (1987) suggests that the use of triangulation in multiple approaches can increase the reliability in results.
Faulty statistics seem to create a life of their own, they linger around. For scholarly reasons, a graduate student had come across and used a cited, nevertheless negative social statistic. This led to the questioning of where did this statistic originate from? There were no questions or critical thinking when this incorrect idea was not only formed, yet publicized. Unfortunately, society is likely to welcome and reproduce bad statistics, whether they be created or guessed, they could alter the knowledge of humanity. Data is needed though utmost importantly, need to be reputable for us to correctly and informative. Presenting many examples, explaining why statistics are essential, who uses them, and why, the writer provides somewhat of a list of considerations to make when one is approaching them.
Inartistic arguments are based on facts or hard evidence – support for an argument using facts, statistics, testimony and other evidence found (510). The use of statistics is an appealing tool and much enjoyed in a fact-based culture, that it is often used to sensationalize, confuse and embellish. Care and understanding must be employed when interpreting statistical data. The 2013 Bloomberg article “For U.S. Men, 40 Years of Falling Income,” the respected publication that reports
The given data had the potential to reduce reliability, therefore the untrustworthy data has been eliminated in this experiment. The mean and standard deviation has been displayed in a table and histogram. The regression analyses that were below 0.95 were eliminated as an example of significant outliers to produce more consistent and reliable results as well as other data that has had an immense difference in the range. The outliers were selectively eliminated as the results are better removed than kept. Even though the sample size has been relatively reduced (13 population size) compared to the initial (), in this case it is more reliable to have a small sample size with consistent results, than a large population with considerably different ranges that could highly influence the overall
The most appropriate measure of center of this data set would be the median, or the arithmetic average. The median would be more suitable because the mean is more heavily influenced by outliers. In a skewed distribution, the mean would be pulled more towards the tail of the data where outliers exist, and the average value would be greater than that of the median. In this case, using the 1.5 x IQR rule, any departure time less than 19.5 or greater than 16.5 is an outlier. Hence, with multiple outliers present in the data, the median would not be influenced as heavily as the mean by outliers, and would give a more accurate representation of the average value of the set. (Refer to spreadsheet). The measure of variation that corresponds with
The methodology is confirmed scientifically and rigorously in a total 68 hours and the data were organisaed and statistically analysed.