Statistics in plain English

Data lie! At least that is the message I try to get through to my more advanced students. Explaining how data lie, however, can be tricky. When are two means different, and which test do we ... See More

Data lie! At least that is the message I try to get through to my more advanced students. Explaining how data lie, however, can be tricky. When are two means different, and which test do we use to tell. Finding materials that explain in a manner consistent with the ability of high school students, and even beginning college students is challenging. This article does a nice job of explaining basic statistical terms in plain English, and applies them in ways that students can comprehend. Especially when considering claims of treatments (i.e. medical) or trying to understand validity of arguments in policy debates (i.e. climate change), our students probably will find more value in understanding statistics. They increasingly need the tools to evaluate findings and claims of other researchers. Ofentimes I find myself advising my more advanced students to consider taking a statistics course instead of calculus their senior year instead of calculus - I think it helps them develop better decision-making skills!