Thinking Statistics

A few weeks ago I was writing about the Humanities and STEM disciplines when I mentioned a problem being reported in the sciences. An increasing number of peer-reviewed journal articles are not reproducible, even though they claim to be just that.

I really enjoyed reading Michael Suk-Young Chwe's take on the issue (scientists should turn to the disciplinary practices of Humanities to avoid confirmation bias).

But it is worth noting that the kind of thinking that goes into statistical reasoning does not come naturally, and that is why statistics are so easy to abuse in an argument. This SciShow video does a nice job of demonstrating why.

I never thought I'd be the guy pushing statistics on people. Before coming to study here at Davis, I'd spent a decade and a half steeped in the Humanities. But after taking three stats courses for my program, and I am increasingly of the opinion that a strong understanding of statistics is one of the basic ingredients for modern literacy.