In article <9ctkri$fjvug$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Neville X. Elliven <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>David Heiser wrote:
>>We seem to have a lot of recent questions involving combinations,
>>and probabilities of combinations.
>>I am puzzled.
>>Are these concepts no longer taught as a fundamental starting point in stat?
>I haven't seen a Combinatorics course in a college class
>schedule in nearly twenty years, but combinations and their
>probabilities are still taught in Statistics courses
>[perhaps not with as much emphasis as previously].
Combinatorics used to be a standard topic in high school
algebra. It is USED in probability calculations, which
are USED in statistical calculations, but it is not either
probability or statistics, no more than addition is.
In fact, it is overdone; students have no problems with
understanding equally likely, but have major problems
with probability when this is not the case. I also doubt
whether learning to compute answers gives any insight
into the concepts, except for those with good research
potential, and even there it tends to confuse.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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