Rank Awful & black boxes
gt;Boughton Green Road > >Northampton > >NN2 7AL > > > >Tel (01604) 735500 Ext 2393 > >Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > >- Original Message - > >From: Jon Cryer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent: Monday, November 29, 1999 5:54 PM > >Subject: Re: Rank Awful > > > > > >> I guess "nice" is in the eye of the beholder. I view this as > >> another good reason NOT to use Excel for Statistics! > >> > >> Please use the right tool for the job. > >> > >> Jon Cryer > >> > >> At 05:58 PM 11/26/99 +0100, you wrote: > >> >Very nice solution. > >> >It can be reduced even to the last part: > >> >RANK(A1,A$1:A$6,1)+(COUNTIF(A$1:A$6,A1)-1)/2) > >> > > >> >Ivan > >> > > >> >> You can modify the rank() function using the following one: > >> >> > >> >> IF(COUNTIF(A$1:A$6,A1)=1, RANK(A1,A$1:A$6,1), > >> >> RANK(A1,A$1:A$6,1)+(COUNTIF(A$1:A$6,A1)-1)/2) > >> >> > >> >> In this setting, the data range is A1:A6 (as the example you mentioned > >in > >> >> your email), and ranking is in the ascending order, e.g. smaller number > >> >> gets smaller rank. You can type this function in cell B1, and copy the > >> >> formula to B1:B6. Let me know if you need further info. > >> >> > >> >> Jay > >> >> > >> > > >> > > >> > Ivan Zezula, Safarik University, Kosice > >> > > >> > > >>_ > >> - | \ > >> Jon Cryer [EMAIL PROTECTED] ( ) > >> Department of Statistics http://www.stat.uiowa.edu\ \_ > >University > >> and Actuarial Science office 319-335-0819 \ * \ of > >Iowa > >> The University of Iowa dept. 319-335-0706\ / > >Hawkeyes > >> Iowa City, IA 52242FAX319-335-3017 | ) > >> - V > >> > > > > -- > 208 Cedar Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 > AC 814-863-2401Email mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > WWW: http://roberts.ed.psu.edu/users/droberts/drober~1.htm > FAX: AC 814-863-1002 -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
stat software for macintosh
i'd appreciate anyone's current thoughts on what's the best stat software for the mac these days. (specifically a g3). thanks in advance for your advice. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: adjusting marks
a bit of empirical evidence i have to offer is about some negative effects of the use of grading, which i realize is the opposite of what you asked for. when i was a senior in high school, a chinese girl decided not to take trig/analytic geometry because she was afraid it would ruin her gpa and affect her college acceptances. evidence that non-use of grades may have a beneficial side: antioch (at one time and perhaps still) has had an open-file policy, such that any student who didn't like the grade they got in a course could simply remove from their file the record of that course (grade & credit). this does not seem to have affected the school's reputation adversely, that i am aware of. not taking grades too seriously allows one to learn out of interest, which tends to lead to better retention and recall, as i can personally attest. Jim Clark wrote: > snip > > Grading is not equivalent to ranking, unless one uses a forced > distribution. One can grade without any restriction on the > number of As or other grades other than the achievement of the > students. I would be interested in hearing about any empirical > evidence that non-use of grading schemes produces better or even > as good learning as the use of grades? > -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: adjusting marks - to compute or not?
based on recent negative experiences in econometrics, i would say that the absolutely essential thing, whether computers are used or not, is for the professor to provide *detailed* problem solutions for a representative and ample variety of problems. the motivated student then had plenty of material to use in tracking down incorrect ideas. (the solutions in the problem solution book are almost always too summarized.) maniacal attention to this sort of detail was essential to (my) success in engineering, and the econometrics (and economics) professors who failed to provide it lost my intellectual respect. Bob Hayden wrote: > H. In my department we are responding to a reviewer who urged > greater uniformity among sections of the same course. I sort of > agree, but this has raised questions as to what should be the same and > what is allowed to vary. Right now we have some sections of Stats.I > where weekly Minitab assignments are collected and graded and others > where computers are not used at all. I don't think that is good. On > the other hand, I don't think we all need to use the same text, as > long as we all use respectable ones -- say, ones on the approved list > for AP Stats. While this is debatable, my outlook re education is > highly colored by my undergraduate experience at MIT. There it was > common for the professor to give his (no women in those days) own idea > of what was important in his field. These views were often highly > idiosyncratic and absolutely brilliant. I had courses containing > stuff that was not contained in any published textbook. I loved it > and learned a lot. Enforcing uniformity would have turned MIT into > just another college. > > Now, what do you think about the variation in Beethoven's symphonies? > Obviously this guy did not have a very good QC system. There is a lot > more uniformity in performance these days -- I hear little differences > compared to the differences among Toscanini, Walter, Furtwangler, > Mengelberg, etc. Is this really an improvment? > > Likewise cars are all much more alike than they were when we have > inline 6s and 8s, v-8s, v-12s, OHV engines, flatheads, etc. Maybe > it's for the better but I miss my Buick straight eight. > > What about spouses? Should they all be the same? > > _ > | | Robert W. Hayden > | | Department of Mathematics > / | Plymouth State College MSC#29 >| | Plymouth, New Hampshire 03264 USA >| * | Rural Route 1, Box 10 > /| Ashland, NH 03217-9702 > | ) (603) 968-9914 (home) > L_/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] > fax (603) 535-2943 (work) -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: adjusting marks
recent references to grading on the curve don't quite jibe with my substantial amount of experience being graded this way. in the (good) engineering schools i attended in california, the instructor would typically try to write an exam of a level of difficulty that would produce a good spread of total points among students, the idea being that relative achievement would be easier to see, not lost in the noise. i don't recall anything about taking points away from good students or giving them to poor ones. i also don't recall that they were held to the normal distribution of grades. and i believe it is widely accepted that teaching someone else how to do something is one of the best ways to ensure that one actually understands it. muriel Eric Bohlman wrote: > EAKIN MARK E ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > : While I do not grade on a curve, I feel that if reasons exist,it is more > : valid to adjust atypical grades distributions than not to adjust them. > : My reason for not grading on a curve is more for class harmony. Grading on > : a curve often means taking points away from some students while adding to > : others. I noticed that a class can suddenly become hostile if some > : students are treated better than others. This hostile environment can be > : detrimental to a class's performance also. > > To put it even more bluntly, grading "on a curve" really means > establishing a budget of grade points and then distributing that budget > among the students, which means that the grade a particular student gets > depends not only on the distribution decisions but on the size of the > budget. Where on earth does this concept of a budget come from? It > implies at least two questionable, to say the least, underlying assumptions: > > 1) That the "total" of whatever it is that grades are supposed to measure > is a constant depending only on class size. > > 2) That it's possible to evaluate the collective performance of a group > on a task *before* they've performed that task. > > The purpose of a budget is to make it possible to allocate limited > resources. Since when is academic performance a limited resource, or > even any sort of resource subject to allocation? What on earth does it > mean to say to a student "your performance would be an A, but that would > put me over budget so I can only give you a B" or "your performance would > be a D, but I've got some extra grade points left over so I can give you > a C"? > > The disharmony you talk about is really the result of pitting students > against each other in such a way that each student's success depends on > other students' failure. Why would someone want to do this? If we're > not talking about allocating an inherently scarce resource, the only > reason I can think of is a deliberate desire to create disharmony in > order to use "divide and conquer" to prevent collective action. If the > students resent each other, they won't band together and hatch a plot to > murder the instructor, but they also won't band together and help each > other learn (in the Real World, sharing your knowledge with someone > doesn't "drain" you of knowledge; in fact, it often increases your store > of knowledge). -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: adjusting marks; W. Edwards Deming
i would definitely agree that grading and QC are fundamentally and philosophically different in their level and kind of detail, and in the correlation between numbers representing physical measurements and the desired results. however, if he recognized the essential difference in these 2 kinds of evaluation, this tends to raise his credibility in my estimation. > If not, it follows (at the best) that he did not consider academic > grading to have much to do with industrial quality control. Therefore, his > expertise in the latter field should not give him much credibility on the > former. > > -Robert Dawson -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
empirical is not statistical
please note that empirical means "relying on observation or experiment; guided by experience rather than theory." i had always understood that a single observation was by definition empirical??? and then, how exactly can a reference be itself empirical if what one observes is a description of observation/s of event/s? Michael Atherton wrote: > Muriel Strand wrote: > > snip > (besides your "evidence" looks much more anecdotal than empirical). > > > evidence that non-use of grades may have a beneficial side: > > > > antioch (at one time and perhaps still) has had an open-file policy, such that > > any student who didn't like the grade they got in a course could simply remove > > from their file the record of that course (grade & credit). this does not seem > > to have affected the school's reputation adversely, that i am aware of. > > > > not taking grades too seriously allows one to learn out of interest, which tends > > to lead to better retention and recall, as i can personally attest. > > If you have some empirical references that show (in the general case) that > eliminating grades significantly enhances student performance in universities > I would be very interested. > no i have no such evidence. it strikes me that grading policy is not causally sufficient to explain student performance. > > -- > http://www.tc.umn.edu/~athe0007 -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: empirical is not statistical
pardon me, but my reaction is not personal. the precise meaning of basic important words such as empirical and anecdotal matters, because otherwise discourse fails to communicate accurately. if one is talking about a single empirical observation, i fail to see the distinction between an anecdote and an empirical observation. the strength of a single empirical or anecdotal observation can vary. if it disproves a theory by providing a contrary example, it can be very powerful. is the "empirical method" the same as the "scientific method?" is the "empirical method" the same as the "statistical method?" likely not, as the existence of different words usually arises from differences in meaning. is there such a critter as the "anecdotal method?" philosophy perhaps? i await with great interest enlightenment from list-members. muriel Michael Atherton wrote: > I had said that, "...your 'evidence' looks much more anecdotal than empirical". > Anecdotal means: a short narrative concerning an interesting or amusing > incident or event. I still believe that your evidence looks more anecdotal > than empirical. Especially in the sense of "empirical method", where a > single data point is not normally considered strong evidence. > > PS: Since you cc'ed your response to [EMAIL PROTECTED] perhaps > you could tell me how to subscribe to this list-server (or if anyone else > reading this overly personal exchange could tell me how it would be > helpful). > > Muriel Strand wrote: > > > please note that empirical means "relying on observation or experiment; guided by > > experience rather than theory." i had always understood that a single observation >was > > by definition empirical??? > > > > and then, how exactly can a reference be itself empirical if what one observes is a > > description of observation/s of event/s? > > > > Michael Atherton wrote: > > > > > Muriel Strand wrote: > > > > > > snip > > > (besides your "evidence" looks much more anecdotal than empirical). > > > > > > > -- > http://www.tc.umn.edu/~athe0007 -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Constructivist grades?
having never heard before anything about constructionism, i conclude from a brief website (http://www.pen.k12.va.us/Anthology/Pav/Va_Assoc_Sci/construct3.html#General Constructivism Essays and) investigation that it has much in common with the scientific method. i predict that the primary problem in applying it would be in going overboard, and not providing students enough objective information about what has been constructed to date by others. in engineering, much of what we learn is objective, however a plethora of labs supplement this in a constructivist manner. thus, while i can identify and apply all of the theory and equations used in designing a car, i know perfectly well that i am no mechanic and have great respect for those who are. now, if my grades in eng'g had been based on my constructivist performance, i would have flunked out. if a mechanic's grades were based on his/her objectivist performance, that person might well flunk out. does this prove anything about grades? as i mull this over, it occurs to me that constructivist education would be much more difficult to provide in the face of students who just want the diploma as a job ticket. i wonder how accurate grading would differ in the 2 regimes, and i invite philosphical comments from listmembers. muriel Rinus Voeten wrote: > Michael Atherton wrote in message > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > > > >I work in a university environment dominated > >by constructivists. I have been trying to find authors > >or researchers who are publishing views contrary to > >the NCTM standards...without much luck. Can any > >one tell me who are the national figures with views > >opposed to the constructivist approach to mathematics > >education? > > > > The following book may be of interest, though it is not about mathematics > education: > > The flight from science and reason, edited by Paul R. Gross, Norman Levitt, > and Martin W. Lewis, published by The New York Academy of Sciences, 1996 > (ISBN 1-57331-003-4). > > The book includes contributions from various disciplines scrutinizing the > irrationalism resulting from social constructionism. The book incudes some > chapters on science education, including a critique on the constuctivistic > point of view in the National Science Education Standards. > > Have a great 2000! > > Rinus Voeten. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
translation of recherche statistiques tourisme France
i'm looking for 1999 statistics about numbers of tourists going to french territory (don't know if this includes former colonies or francophone areas?), the tourists' wishes/desires/hopes, any marketing studies on this subject, as well as statistics about the most popular tourist destinations. LVTE wrote: > Bonjour, > > Je recherche des statistiques récentes (99) dans le domaine touristique > concernant les entrées sur le territoire Français, les aspirations des > touristes, les études marketing réalisées à ce sujet ainsi que les > statistiques sur les sites les plus fréquentés. > > Merci de me les adresser en français à : [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: Anti-Constructivists? [rant]
e other > triples of edge lengths for which this happens (Hint 1). > > [Hint 1: 12, 13, ? ] > > Try to find a rule that lets you predict, from the edge lengths, whether > the triangle will be right (Hint 2) (Hint 3) > > [Hint 2: Think about the _squares_] > [Hint 3: For (3,4,5) the squares of the edge lengths are 9,16, and 25. > For (6,8,10) they are 36,64, and 100.] > > And so on > > One could then lead them through the "scissors proof" of Pythagoras' > theorem; challenge the faster kids to show that there are infinitely many > Pythagorean triples other than multiples of one; ask if there is a > Pythagorean triple of odd numbers (find or disprove)... > > The basic idea of discovery is a good one. However, the presence of > absence of a few well-chosen hints makes a huge difference. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
statistical event definition?
i gather that a collection of events which is analyzed with statistics must have sufficient similarity (between each event) for the analysis to be accurate/precise. how similar is sufficient? can anyone recommend refs (preferably books) that discuss this issue, and provide guidelines for assuring sufficient similarity? does this consideration affect the appropriate choice of model? thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom & experience. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov
Re: Sex ratio
actually, higher proportions of men may be evidence for the existence of the goddess, since there would then be more men available to take care of women. ;-) Mike Wogan wrote: > On Sat, 22 Jan 2000, Humberto Barreto wrote: > > > > > You can spice up the example by doing a little research into John > > Arbuthnott. In 1710 he argued for the existence of God by rejecting the > > null of a 50/50 M/F sex ratio. > > Gee, Humberto, I guess I don't understand why departing from 50:50 is > evidence for the existence of God. I'd think the argument would go the > other way. God, being neat and compulsive like the rest of us, would show > His perfection by approximating a 50/50 ratio? Or was Arbuthnott > conflating God with evolution? > > Mike > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, people lacking respect > for other members of the list send messages that are inappropriate > or unrelated to the list's discussion topics. Please just delete the > offensive email. > > For information concerning the list, please see the following web page: > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > === -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, people lacking respect for other members of the list send messages that are inappropriate or unrelated to the list's discussion topics. Please just delete the offensive email. For information concerning the list, please see the following web page: http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: probability of a boy
it's my understanding that there are factors which vary by individual which influence the outcome fe/male at conception, such as timing and pH. i have also heard (from an inquiring mind a non-peer-reviewed account) that the egg somehow chooses which sperm 'she' wants. to the extent that these individual influences are constant over time, the sex outcome of an individual foetus of a particular couple might not be independent or random. "Drake R. Bradley" wrote: > Rich Ulrich wrote: > > > On 24 Jan 2000 09:08:59 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Bushaw, Gordon > > -ADMIN) wrote: > > > > > A related question- > > > I seem to remember reading or hearing that the sex of a child after the > > > first is substantially more likely to match the sex of the previous child > > > than not. Does anyone have any information about this, or is it complete > > > nonsense? > > > > It would be complete nonsense if anyone claimed that. > > But you are probably imagining it. > > It is not clear to me why the poster's question is nonsense. He seems to be > asking whether the outcome of successive births (boy/girl) are independent or > not. Surely there are some scenario's under which these events could be > nonindependent. Perhaps such scenarios are unlikely, but the poster seemed to > be interested in getting information on that. > > Drake Bradley > Bates College > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, people lacking respect > for other members of the list send messages that are inappropriate > or unrelated to the list's discussion topics. Please just delete the > offensive email. > > For information concerning the list, please see the following web page: > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > ======= -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, people lacking respect for other members of the list send messages that are inappropriate or unrelated to the list's discussion topics. Please just delete the offensive email. For information concerning the list, please see the following web page: http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: Adjusting marks
i question whether this jerk has assimilated Deming's basic message about respect for others. i was unable to find a reference for this book OUT OF CRISES. i would however recommend a book i read recently on this general topic called "The Economics of Trust" by John Whitney, from which i have prepared a summary which i will be happy to email to interested parties. his basic thesis is that there are 5 main causes of distrust in organizations: - ineffective evaluation & reward systems - little trust in the competence of others - failure to realize the interdependence of functions as parts of a larger system - mistrust of, and consequent disregard for, information from within org - concern about the motives, if not the integrity, of others altho he focuses on a basic for-profit manufacturing enterprise, his basic thesis can be extended to government bureaucracies and academia. implementation of this model faces the same obstacles as total quality mgmt. muriel Consultantssuck wrote: > Dr. Deming Naive? You, sir, are misguided and unfortunately, > misinformed of the genius of the master Dr. Shewhart, and his > disiple and messenger to the latter half of the 20th century, > Dr. Deming. > > Humans want to do a good job. Dr. Deming was pellucid on this > point. People and school fit nicely into this axiom. > > what you fail to understand is the profound knowledge of > thinking preparing, and continual improvement. Grading is nice, > succinct, and above all, usually useless in its existing > design. Does grading permit our student to readdress problem or > slow areas? In many cases grading only shows how well you did, > based on varying factors-The next test, completely different. > > we have all seen studies where the pretty girl is awarded better > grades for the same caliber of work as others. we have all > seen reports where teachers are wrong in their suppositions, > then corrected or challenged by students, ultimately leading > these educators to hold a grudge for "attitude and behavior" > when report card time recurs. > > Do you want to know why the AFT and the NEA are against teaching > LOGIC in elementary schools (Logic being the foundation for all > higher math applications)? > > Could it be because some protege will learn to ask the harder > questions? Possibly Some "smart alec" will not accept our > educator's "Because I told you it did." > > A recent report found Elementary educators, when pressed for > answers they did not know, simply "winged it." This sophristry > unfortunately happens when our educators are not versed in the > sciences, history or math, and they wish to appear (to > themselves and) to their students, smart. > > People want to do a good job. Grading allows teachers to make > decisions in our children's early years based on mostly the > faliable educator's emotions toward that one particular budding > mind. Grading should be benchmarks for ever improvement based > on practice, practice practice of the fundementals. Then of > course moving foward with a keen sence of where the student is > going. Any good music teacher will tell you the ones who > practice the fundemental scales, dilegently, go on to master the > difficult pieces. > > Read the book OUT OF CRISES again, and again. I assure you, you > will soon "get it." > > * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network * > The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free! > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, people lacking respect > for other members of the list send messages that are inappropriate > or unrelated to the list's discussion topics. Please just delete the > offensive email. > > For information concerning the list, please see the following web page: > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > === -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, people lacking respect for other members of the list send messages that are inappropriate or unrelated to the list's discussion topics. Please just delete the offensive email. For information concerning the list, please see the following web page: http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: Rubin and Statistical Fundamentalism
herman, you have the patience of a saint. however, it is not unusual in the physical sciences to locally approximate nonlinear phenomena with linear equations *within clearly specified ranges* where the linearity is reasonably accurate. i don't understand why you say this requires an infinite set of subdivisions? Herman Rubin wrote: > snip > > Some would even say that nonlinear > >relationships can be broken down into a set of discrete linear stages or > >subsequences, > > This is nonsense, unless you allow an infinite set. > > Such slicing may be better than just giving up on linearity,, > >especially since most people cannot understand linear theories, much less > >nonlinear ones, > > I see no reason why a non-linear theory is any harder to > understand than a linear one. Most physical relationships > have major aspects of non-linearity. > > .. > -- > 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 > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful > people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO > THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no > way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in > termination of the list. > > For information about this list, including information about the > problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to > unsubscribe, please see the web page at > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > ======= -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: this list
perhaps, but i vote no. allow me to offer you all a bit of wisdom i recently found, pursuant to personal growth issues (and that may take me some time to fully emulate) NOBODY can prevent you from experiencing inner peace. Bob Hayden wrote: > There was talk of making this into a subscriber-only list. Perhaps > it is time to do that and to limit membership to the civil. > -- > > > _ > | | Robert W. Hayden > | | Department of Mathematics > / | Plymouth State College MSC#29 >| | Plymouth, New Hampshire 03264 USA >| * | Rural Route 1, Box 10 > /| Ashland, NH 03217-9702 > | ) (603) 968-9914 (home) > L_/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] > fax (603) 535-2943 (work) > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful > people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO > THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no > way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in > termination of the list. > > For information about this list, including information about the > problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to > unsubscribe, please see the web page at > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > === -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: Descriptions of Rates
there is also the unit of time which tho not mentioned below can change numbers
substantially.
Milo Schield wrote:
> QUESTION:
> Is there a good reference on reading rates???
> Milo
>
> In describing rates as part-whole ratios,
> it seems that the part is often introduced by
> 1. "rate of" [ rate of deaths, rate of births, etc.] or
> 2. a modifier of "rate" [death rate, birth rate,etc.]
>
> Using a relative clause seems feasible.
> 3a. rate of {part} who/which are due to {part}. [death rate due to guns].
> 3b. {part} rate who/which are {part} [death rate due to guns]
>
> Now consider combinations of 1 & 2.
>
> In some cases, the adjective does not indicate the part.
> 4a. a fixed/higher/growing rate of interest
> 4b.a nice/tiny/adequate rate of interest
>
> In some case, the adjective indicates the part
> while the rate of" phrases introduces a whole or a condition.
> 5a.death rate of males
> 5b.birth rate of young females
>
> In some cases, the adjective indicates the whole
> or condition, while the "rate of" introduces the part.
> 6a.males' rate of accidents
> 6b.teenage rate of pregnancies
>
> In some cases, the adjective simply conditions:
> 7a.a commercial rate of interest
>
> In some cases, we can get three different influences:
> 8a.the highest unemployment rate of the nation's 11 industrial states
> 8b.the high divorce rate of their parents generation
>
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--
Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is
completely coincidental.
Muriel Strand, P.E.
Air Resources Engineer
CA Air Resources Board
2020 L Street
Sacramento, CA 59814
916-324-9661
916-327-8524 (fax)
www.arb.ca.gov
===
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academic independence
i would like to bring to the attention of folks interested in the fate of american academia a timely article about the growing (and disturbing) influence of big business therein. please go to: http://www.theatlantic.com/cgi-bin/o/issues/2000/03/press.htm to read all about it. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
request for help from bangladesh
folks, i am copying to the edstat list this message from a fellow who asks for help for what appears to be a worthy cause. i have edited somewhat for reading ease. he is looking for advice on designing a survey in re "Hence, to monitor the progress of the project a it has been decided that a baseline survey should be commissioned. I would appreciate if someone could provide me advice and suggestions on what indicators to look for and measure now so as to assess the impact the project will be able to make future. The survey is to be conducted in two Thanas of 335 villages comprising of approximately 50,000 households. Bangladesh is very homogenous in nature (geography, culture, language, religion, etc.) but varies significantly on income level, health and sanitation situation, land ownership patterns, etc. Hence what should be the sample size of the survey. Or could some one point me to a site where I can extract info on calculating the sample size. " muriel * >From Raj Thapa [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is my first posting to the list and was not sure if this is the appropriate place to post my queries. If you find it a nuisance please ignore. I work as the Management Advisor of four rural Community Empowerment Projects in Bangladesh that seek to provide social guidance and with limited outside support harness the peoples potential to: (1)Organize themselves in the pooling of resources, cutting down overheads, achieving economies of scale; (2) Help identify true and genuine activists (para professionals) among the communities; (3) Identify and prioritize what people are willing to undertake in terms of opportunities and needs; (4) Undertake feasibility of identified opportunities and needs in terms of peoples capacity, willingness, equity, sustainability and the requirement and availability of resources; (5) Arrange the flow of required resources to the community; and (6) Monitor, lobby and establish linkages between communities and development agencies, including governmental departments, NGOs and donor. Specifically, the projects offer a development partnership to the community, whereby it is asked to identify and prioritize what it can do for its own development, local resources are mobilised in the form of savings, as well as labour and in-kind support. Once a portfolio of opportunities is identified and matching local resources are mobilised, external assistance from the project is provided in the form of management and skills training, and micro-capital grant support for the community development activities. To ensure focus on the poor, issues of equity and sustainability within the community are discussed and, only after reaching consensus on a pro-poor, pro-women bias, project assistance is provided. While all households may participate in and benefit from the community organizations, they themselves will actively focus on organizing and improving the conditions of the poorest. It should be noted that, unlike many existing programmes in Bangladesh, the micro-capital grants are instruments for social mobilization and not the goal of the assistance. The micro-capital grants may be used as revolving-credit funds to on-lend to members of the community organization, or for use as investment in the community infrastructure or income-generation projects. The projects will concentrate on the establishment of village development plans within a single administrative unit before spreading out over larger geographical areas. This holistic approach is expected to solicit the interest of the Local Government and departments in providing the necessary support to eradicate poverty. These projects are executed as demonstration projects which would help develop policy for replication all over Bangladesh. Hence, to monitor the progress of the project a it has been decided that a baseline survey should be commissioned. I would appreciate if someone could provide me advice and suggestions on what indicators to look for and measure now so as to assess the impact the project will be able to make future. The survey is to be conducted in two Thanas of 335 villages comprising of approximately 50,000 households. Bangladesh is very homogenous in nature (geography, culture, language, religion, etc.) but varies significantly on income level, health and sanitation situation, land ownership patterns, etc. Hence what should be the sample size of the survey. Or could some one point me to a site where I can extract info on calculating the sample size. Hope to hear from many rural development listserv members. -- To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] RURALDEV archives: http://listserv.ksu.edu/archives/ruraldev.html -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (f
Re: over and above
i'm not sure the statement below is true for this strong student. when it comes to applying the concepts, you do need to know them inside and out and much of that intuition (for me) came from reams of homework problems. Herman Rubin wrote: > snip > > This might possibly be the case for the weak students, but > not for the strong ones. It is the concepts which are the > most important part, and concepts need little, if any, > practice. > > -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: Calculator policy
i would like to (approximately) echo the other responses on this topic. last fall i was almost trapped in a very poorly taught econometrics class and the clincher was when i showed up to take the first exam and found out it was to be closed book - it never even occurred to me to ask. i cannot remember the last time i had a test that was closed book/notes. this particular class focused on memorizing definitions and using software like a black box, NOT on understanding stats. when engineers take the state licensing exam, they can bring in a suitcase full of books if they care to. i probably brought about 10, AND i knew what formulae to use in what situations and where to find them. i'm not aware that this practice has caused any dangers to the citizenry, and presumably the state licensing board doesn't think so either. "Brian E. Smith" wrote: > I am trying to formulate a calculator policy in a department that currently > allows any calculator except "those capable of storing text". That rules > out all of the graphing calculators since they have alphanumeric > capability. I use a TI-83 or TI-86 in my statistics class but under the > current policy I cannot allow my students to bring one into class. If > anyone has a faculty or departmental policy that will allow me to use the > TI (or other similar) calculators while overcoming the concern that > students will (mis)use the text capability to store formulas or notes, I > would appreciate hearing from you. > > Thanks > > Brian > > ___ > > Brian E. Smith TEL: 514-398-4038 (Work) > McGill University FAX: 514-398-3876 (Work) > 1001 Sherbrooke St. WestFAX: 514-482-1639 (Home) > Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1G5EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Url: http://www.management.mcgill.ca/homepage/profs/smithb > ___ > > No human investigation can be called real science if it cannot be > demonstrated mathematically. Leonardo da Vinci > ___ > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful > people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO > THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no > way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in > termination of the list. > > For information about this list, including information about the > problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to > unsubscribe, please see the web page at > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > =========== -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: N=?? - help needed
there is of course the possibility that the societal turbulence and friction caused by these buy-outs exceeds investors' monetary gains. if you don't consider such factors as this your analysis will be incomplete. Edzo Wisman wrote: > L.S.: > > I have the following problem: > > My data are the returns on a quarterly basis of leveraged buyout funds in > the USA from 1989 to 1999 (40 quarters). I have bought this data in two > groups with in one group funds smaller (in terms of capital under > management) then a certain size; in the other funds larger then that certain > size. This way I can test whether the returns of the smaller funds behave > differently from those of the larger funds. > > My hypothesis is that the smaller funds have higher returns. Not just that, > even better for their investors, they also have a lower risk level (standard > deviation of returns). > > There are way more smaller buyout firms then there are large ones. The > returns of the smaller funds are the combined results of about 150 firms > (from 80 in 1989 to 225 in 1999); the results of the large buyout firms are > the combined results of 8 in 1989 to 63 in 1999. Since I only have the > returns of the combined funds as observations I do only have N=40. One can > imagine that the standard deviation of returns is a lot lower for the > smaller funds this way in the first place because it is comprised of less > funds in the first place... [Standard deviaton is about 4 vs. 8] . > > How can I approach this problem: correcting for the larger number the > data is comprised of for smaller funds (or: correcting for the smaller > numbers the data is comprised of for the larger funds) if I want to test for > return level & standard deviation? > > Help greatly appreciated!! > > Edzo Wisman > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful > people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO > THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no > way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in > termination of the list. > > For information about this list, including information about the > problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to > unsubscribe, please see the web page at > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > ======= -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
Re: Assessment Conference
ed by signature of our form by the Chair of > their department) will receive admission at half price. > > Cancellation Policy: > * Should you find it necessary to cancel your registration, > your course fee less $50.00 will be refunded if notice of > cancellation is received at least two weeks before the > start of the session. > > Contact: > * Please direct any questions about registration or lodging > and facilities at the University of Maryland College Park > campus to: > EDMS Seminar and Training Cente Phone: (301) 405-3624 > 1230 Benjamin Building FAX:(301)314-9245 > University of Maryland E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > College Park, Maryland 20742 > > Website: http://www.education.umd.edu/EDMS > > === > This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful > people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO > THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no > way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in > termination of the list. > > For information about this list, including information about the > problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to > unsubscribe, please see the web page at > http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ > === -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
economics & politics
Yura Koblents-Mishke wrote: > When discussion drifts into politics, it is hard to > keep it to the scientific standards. Emotions rules and > overwhelms. I am afraid, the quote can serve as > example. discussions about economics will by their nature drift into arenas of politics & psychology. economic topics include aspects of life that can be analyzed via the principles of the natural sciences (eg physics) _and_ those that can be analyzed via the principles of the social sciences (eg politics). problems arise when analysis methods don't match the topic, and when lack of a recognized standard of qualitative discourse and proof frustrates analysis in the social sciences. the implications of the fact that the relationship between money and reality is not a one-to-one relationship are poorly understood in far too many arenas. > An easy-to-read, but serious and (as I can see) > reliable account of the Long-Term Capital Management > debacle (by David Shirreff) can be found at the > following site: > > http://risk.ifci.ch/146480.htm a very informative site, although i didn't read this particular page. > - somewhat stained was the very concept of statistical > (econometric) models in business/finances. And it was > just: it is dangerous to over rely on models. it appears to me that one major danger of econometric models is that they depend on money for their data, and then people use the models to predict without keeping very close track of changes in the relationship/s between money & reality. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
nist stat handbook on web
a colleague found this url which you folks may find useful: http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/index2.htm nist is developing a stat handbook. -- Any resemblance of any of the above opinions to anybody's official position is completely coincidental. Muriel Strand, P.E. Air Resources Engineer CA Air Resources Board 2020 L Street Sacramento, CA 59814 916-324-9661 916-327-8524 (fax) www.arb.ca.gov === This list is open to everyone. Occasionally, less thoughtful people send inappropriate messages. Please DO NOT COMPLAIN TO THE POSTMASTER about these messages because the postmaster has no way of controlling them, and excessive complaints will result in termination of the list. For information about this list, including information about the problem of inappropriate messages and information about how to unsubscribe, please see the web page at http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ ===
