After setting up my RSS Feed using Feedly, I stumbled across the TED-Ed video channel on YouTube which I added to my RSS Feed. The video which intrigued me the most is entitled "How Statistics Can Be Misleading".
As a psychology major, I am a HUGE consumer of statistical information. In fact, every paper I write for a psychology class is densely filled with statistics from various studies and academic journals. Through learning about statistics at Brock, I know that statistics can be misleading. However, I had no idea there was a name for this until I watched the TED-Ed video which brought the term "Simpson's Paradox" to my attention.
"Simpson's Paradox" highlights the fact that many studies which use statistics have "lurking" variables, or confounding variables. These variables are influencing the statistics at every turn, making the data which we view sometimes untrustworthy. The video highlights several examples of this, all of which shed light on the importance of understanding that "lurking" variables have a huge overarching influence on the statistics we hold to be true.
As I am no Statistician by any means, trying to explain the video in meaningful words might not relay the importance of the issue. For this reason, I encourage my readers to not only check out the video by clicking HERE, but to also check out the entire TED-Ed video channel and add it to their RSS Feed by clicking HERE. The channel has a wide array of videos which I'm sure will pique any interest!
Thanks for reading!
Hey Scarlet,
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow psychology student I understand what you mean when you highlight the importance of consuming non-skewed statistic information. I feel as though this has been emphasized in every other class I've taken (yours too I assume!). I took a look into the video you suggested. It's great at explaining the Simpsons pardox in a simplified manner that I believe can be received well by just about anyone. Great share. Look forward to reading more about your online adventures!
The significant parallels I find within this post and many of the courses I am currently taking are astounding. I am no Psychology major but within my BioStats, and Research Methods course we have covered (in painful detail) many of the points you have brought up. Properly represented data defines a piece of work, and without this the entire product loses all credibility!
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always a cut above, Always a trill to read, and I can't wait for more!