Tag Archives: politics

How to Tell if a Political Poll is Legitimate

Four things to look for. Why People Hate Polls It’s probably true that everybody has taken a survey at some point or other. What’s also probably true is that most people think polling is easy. And why not? Google has … 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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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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Dealing with Dilemmas

A decade or so ago, I always feared and was the frequent victim of hardware and software problems. It was a logical consequence of a craftsman routinely pushing his tools way beyond the limits of their capabilities. But the software … Continue reading

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Ockham’s Spatula

Model building is like climbing a mountain. It’s what you spend so much time planning for. It’s what everybody wants to talk about. It’s what gives you that euphoric feeling of accomplishment when you’re finished. But just as mountain climbers … Continue reading

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

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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Tales of the Unprojected

We have a habit in writing articles published in scientific journals to make the work as finished as possible, to cover up all the tracks, to not worry about the blind alleys or describe how you had the wrong idea … Continue reading

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There’s Something About Variance

Imagine practicing hitting a target using darts, bow and arrow, pistol, cannon, missile launcher, or whatever. You aim for the center of the target. If your shots land where you aimed, you are considered to be accurate. If all your … Continue reading

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Try This At Home

We are all awash in statistics. Every day, we see the probability of precipitation, the results of opinion polls, changes in the stock market, your grades in school, or the batting average of the baseball team you follow. It’s surprising, … Continue reading

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