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Statistics Hacks
book

Statistics Hacks

by Bruce Frey
May 2006
Beginner
356 pages
10h 49m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Statistics Hacks

Chapter 3. Measuring the World

Hacks 23-34

There is great value in understanding phenomena by hanging a quantity on it. Though sometimes a something important is lost in the translation from idea to number, creating scores to represent whatever we are interested in does allow for a level of precision in understanding, and it also allows for comparison. These hacks all involve measurement and interpretation of scores.

A whole family of hacks relies on the normal distribution [Hack #23] and its presence everywhere we look. With the normal curve, you can tell where you stand compared to everyone else [Hack #24], know how you are likely to perform on a test before you even take it [Hack #25], and understand your test results at a deeper level [Hacks #26 and #27].

Speaking of testing, you’ll learn how to produce a good set of questions [Hack #28] and make a quality test [Hacks #31 and #32]. You can identify bad items, worthless questions, and do well on a test without knowing the answers [Hack #29]. You can also improve your test performance without cracking a single book [Hack #30].

Finally, by learning a couple of solid measurement principles, you can determine the lifespan of an era, person, or business [Hack #33] and also learn how to use medical information [Hack #34] to maybe increase your own lifespan.

Measure by measure, here is a whole chapter full of measurement hacks.

See the Shape of Everything

Almost everything in the natural world is distributed in the same way. As long as you ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596101643Errata Page