Author Archives: statswithcats

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About statswithcats

Charlie Kufs has been crunching numbers for over forty years. He retired in 2019 and is currently working on Stats with Kittens, for people interested in statistics who have not yet taken Stats 101, and the second edition of Stats with Cats, for people who have taken Stats 101 and want to use statistics at work or in their life.

What Does a Statistician Do

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Five Things You Should Know Before Taking Statistics 101

Of the over two million college degrees that are granted in the U.S. every year, including those earned at accredited online colleges nationwide, probably two-thirds require completion of a statistics class. That’s over a million and a half students taking … Continue reading

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Polls Apart

Election season is fast approaching so you can be sure a plethora of polls will soon be adding to the mayhem. Polls educate us in two ways. They tell us what we, or at least the population being polled, think. … Continue reading

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Regression Fantasies: Part III

Is Your Regression Model Telling the Truth? There are many technologies we use in our lives without really understanding how they work. Television. Computers. Cell phones. Microwave ovens. Cars. Even many things about the human body are not well understood. … Continue reading

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Regression Fantasies: Part II

Six More Reasons for Doubting a Regression Model There are more than a few reasons for being skeptical about a regression model. Some are easy to identify, others are more subtle. Here are six more reasons you might doubt the … Continue reading

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Regression Fantasies: Part I

Five Common Reasons for Doubting a Regression Model Finding a model that fits a set of data is one of the most common goals in data analysis. Least squares regression is the most commonly used tool for achieving this goal. … Continue reading

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Aphorisms for Data Analysts

An aphorism is a pithy saying that reveals some astute observation or popular notion, whether true or fictitious. “Lies, damn lies, and statistics” you’ve undoubtedly heard. If you’ve taken Stats 101, you probably know that “correlation doesn’t imply causation.” Here … Continue reading

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Getting the Right Answer

The academic world of statistics stresses understanding theory, types of analyses, calculations and interpretations. In the world of profit-driven business and government regulations, though, there’s even more to consider, especially if you are conducting the analysis for a boss or … Continue reading

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Ten Tactics used in the War on Error

Scientists and other theory-driven data analysts focus on eliminating bias and maximizing accuracy so they can find trends and patterns in their data. That’s necessary for any type of data analysis. For statisticians, though, the real enemy in the battle … Continue reading

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It’s All Relative

It’s easy to quote someone out of context to impart a false impression. A movie critic might write a review saying, “This film is a delight compared to a colonoscopy” only to be quoted as saying, “This film is a … Continue reading

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