- Computing speed is often an important factor in assessing a programing language. In this post, Nathan Lemoine uses R and Python to calculate the bootstrapped confidence intervals for simulated linear regressions, and compares the computation times.
- We all know, from elementary calculus, that π is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, and e is the base of the natural logarithm. But do you know why both of these constants appear in the density function of a normal distribution?
- Everyone (hopefully) knows how to import Excel spreadsheets into R, but do you know how you can save your R results directly as an Excel spreadsheet, with column names?
- If your chance of getting a parking ticket in one hour is 80%, what is the probability you’ll get a ticket in half an hour?
- One of the problems with Big Data is that large datasets are often proprietary and not accessible to the public. Joseph Rickert put togther a collection of some really nice big datasets that you can use to practice your R skills. They are all yours to experiment with.
- I have two children. One is a boy born on a Tuesday. What is the probability I have two boys?
- The Man Who Invented Modern Probability – the life story of Andrei Kolmogorov, by Slava Gerovitch of MIT.
August, 2013
26
Aug 13
The week in stats (Aug. 26th edition)
19
Aug 13
The week in stats (Aug. 19th edition)
- Data science is emerging as a new, hot field, but is it really different from statistics? Wesley from statistical-research.com discusses why data science is more than just a title.
- Are you in the market research industry? If you ever run into incomplete data, here is how machine learning can help to fill in the gaps.
- This year, more than 6,000 people attended the Joint Statistical Meetings, the largest statistical meeting in the world. If you missed the 2013 JSM, this summary will bring you up to speed.
- Why an infinite number of monkeys (or even just one monkey!) will eventually crank out a complete play every bit as melodramatic as The Bard’s famous Hamlet.
- Egon Pearson (11 August 1895 – 12 June 1980) is one of the most prominent figures in the history of statistics. His most important contributions include the Neyman-Pearson (1933) theory of hypothesis testing, and promoting statistical methods in industry. However, most people fail to realize that Pearson’s contributions go well beyond hypothesis testing. Here are some early pioneering works of Pearson that have been neglected.
12
Aug 13
The week in stats (Aug. 12th edition)
- Thinking of starting a new business? Rodolfo Vanzini guides R users through the process of integrating Google maps with your own demographic data.
- Suppose you have n students each holding some number of eggs. There are two large baskets at the front of the room, one red and one blue. With some probability that varies by student, they will each put all of their eggs into one of the two baskets. What is the probability that the blue basket will have more eggs?
- Good news if you know R and you want a job.
- Follow the bouncing balls as they plot the ebbs and flows of coverage in Patrick Burns’ What I Learned From A Year Of Watching SportsCenter.
- Ever wanted to sit in on Google’s (no so) secret R training sessions? Here’s your chance with the online series Google Developers R Programming Video Lectures.
- Assume that the probability of getting a baby boy is 1/2 (and to be very clear and precise, the probability of getting a girl is also 1/2). If a family has 3 children, what is the probability that they have a) exactly one boy, and b) at most two girls?
- At this year’s JSM in Montreal, Nate Silver addresses the links between journalism and statistics by presenting 11 principles for journalists.
- Are you an iOS user? Do you love R? Here is a quick tutorial that shows you how to run R on your iPhone.