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.

Stats With Cats Blog: 2010 in review

Posted on January 2, 2011 by statswithcats

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow. Crunchy numbers The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. … Continue reading →

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Live Long and Publish

Posted on December 26, 2010 by statswithcats

How I Finished My Book in Only a Decade Do you have a half written book in your desk drawer at home? How about a file bulging with outlines and ideas you’re storing until you have the time? I’ve had … Continue reading →

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The Santa Claus Strategy

Posted on December 26, 2010 by statswithcats

I’m working all out Deadline is near Model’s in doubt Dooming my career. Sta-tis-tics will chill my meltdown. I’m adding new vars Testing them twice Trying to find out which ones’ll suffice Sta-tis-tics will give the lowdown. I see the … Continue reading →

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You’re Off to Be a Wizard

Posted on December 19, 2010 by statswithcats

The process of developing a statistical model (https://statswithcats.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/many-paths-lead-to-models/) involves finding the mathematical equation of a line, curve, or other pattern that faithfully represents the data with the least amount of error (i.e., variability). Variability and pattern are the yin and … Continue reading →

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The Seeds of a Model

Posted on December 12, 2010 by statswithcats

Perhaps the most complicated and time-consuming aspect of model building is selecting the components of your model—the variables, the samples, and the data (https://statswithcats.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/many-paths-lead-to-models/). Here are a few tips for collecting the seeds of your model. Models Revisited Here’s a … Continue reading →

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Many Paths Lead to Models

Posted on December 4, 2010 by statswithcats

If you’ve never created a statistical model before, you might be surprised to find that the process involves a lot more than statistics. It’s like traveling. You don’t start by thinking about your transport, the plane, train, or bus you … Continue reading →

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Secrets of Good Correlations

Posted on November 28, 2010 by statswithcats

If you’ve ever seen a correlation coefficient, you’ve probably looked at the number and wondered, is that good? Is a correlation of -0.73 good but not a correlation of +0.58? Just what is a good correlation and what makes a … Continue reading →

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Fifty Ways to Fix your Data

Posted on November 21, 2010 by statswithcats

Fifty Ways to Fix your Data (Sing to the tune of “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon) The problem is all about your scales, she said to me The R-squares will be better if you’ve matched ’em … Continue reading →

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You Can Lead a Boss to Data but You Can’t Make Him Think

Posted on November 14, 2010 by statswithcats

The most carefully planned data analysis may not survive the intervention of a boss (or a client or other reviewer), whether well intentioned or not. Your aim may be to generate sound data and conduct a thorough and valid analysis, … Continue reading →

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Ten Fatal Flaws in Data Analysis

Posted on November 7, 2010 by statswithcats

1. Where’s the Beef? In a way, the worst flaw a data analysis can have is no analysis at all. Instead, you get data lists, sorts and queries, and maybe some simple descriptive statistics but nothing that addresses objectives, answers … Continue reading →

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