Quantitude

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick continue their discussion from last week in The Mättrix Part Deux, exploring the magic of matrices including estimation, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors. Along the way they also mention flawed audio transcripts, 50 Shades of Greg, drunkenly shoving a matrix, drug mules, things you need, isomorphic interdigitation, plywood and tennis balls, heroin-filled c...

In this first of two episodes, Patrick and Greg lay the foundations of matrix algebra, mathematically and geometrically, and start connecting these important underlying ideas to statistics. Along the way, they also mention STDs, the 110 to the 10 to the 405, mystics, skin bags of water, vector Victor, Tac flashlights on misty nights, remembering mnemonics, Stephen Hawking, Bilbo Baggins, and Greg&...

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick discuss the critical distinction between sample distributions and sampling distributions, and explore all the different ways in which sampling distributions are foundational to how we conduct research. Along the way they also mention Starbucks jazz, one item tests, hot pockets, delusions of grandeur, Tetris and Pong, drawing inappropriate distributions,...

Patrick and Greg discuss the rise of machine learning in the social sciences with guest Doug Steinley, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Missouri at Columbia and current editor of the APA journal Psychological Methods. Along the way they also mention funeral expenses, Swedish massage, Amy the Chatbot, irony versus coincidence, lavender bath bombs, varmint removal, Plan...

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick have a wonderfully engaging conversation with social network analysis expert Tracy Sweet who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland. Tracy patiently helps us understand what social network analysis is, and how it can be used to better understand the complexities of huma...

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg discuss latent means models to conduct group mean comparisons while controlling for measurement error, which gives you more power and more accurate standardized effect size estimates. Along the way, they also mention Aunt Roz, table 8, naughty pigs, crossing the streams, big twinkies, asbestos, It's a Small World, churros, 1974 Sweden, Greg's...

Greg and Patrick explore the generalized linear model as a powerful framework for building regression models for binary and other discretely distributed dependent variables. Along the way they also mention stealing property, statistical conspiracy theories, mic drops, coming uncorked, getting punched by biostatisticians, big logistic, tapping out, the Oakland Raiders, being 8.5 feet tall, sheep bo...

In today's episode, Patrick and Greg use the context of COVID rapid tests to discuss issues of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predicted values, and the generally questionable utility of test accuracy information. Along the way they also mention escape rooms, C4, Embassy Suites, palak paneer, 93% accurate, astragali, SAT prep courses, the volume of a cone, risk and burden, and...

In today's episode Greg & Patrick discuss the causes, consequences, and potential solutions associated with negative residual variances in factor analyses, a condition commonly called a Heywood case. Along the we way they also mention vegetarian pepperoni, Jaws Part 2, coffin seat belts, balancing a ship, bad puns, sterilizing needles, dead canaries, hitchhikers, legal depositions, boxes...

Patrick and Greg, perched in a glass booth high above New York's Times Square, ring in 2022 with the help of some friends by counting down quantitative New Year’s resolutions. Along the way they also mention QPod catheters, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, groin height, yelling at NPR, Shimmer, O’Nuckles, intellectual gooses, European Quanterati, smoldering corpses, Dilbert, Dom Perignon, quant club, org...

In today's episode, Greg and Patrick talk about the rich array of models for testing hypotheses about mutual influences between people within a dyadic relationship. Along the way they also mention bones to pick, red herrings, bad influences, cow nutrition, playing both sides of the ball, Deion Sanders, the mind's eye, it's not me it's you, background guitar music, phantom varia...

Patrick and Greg have an in-depth conversation with Derek Briggs, from the University of Colorado, about his new book exploring the fascinating and at times uncomfortable history of measurement and the people who helped develop methods we still use today. Along the way they also mention: outsourcing parenting, where do babies come from, hearing colors, teacher strikes, blowing things up, Morgan Fr...

Greg and Patrick talk about median splits and other ways that continuous variables might be categorized to simplify analyses, and the often very high cost of doing so. Along the way they also mention Never Have I Ever, hand cuffs, gold hoop earrings, bungee jumping, Erik, Henry and Penny, having a mini, chug jugs, Hill Street Blues, med kits and bandages, Patrick's mind's eye, Isn't...

Patrick and Greg discuss the often forgotten importance of observation and exploration for the purpose of suggesting patterns and forming hypotheses, which can later be refined and rigorously tested within the framework of our well-developed confirmatory machinery. Along the they way they also discuss Orlando road trips, our inner child, crappy glue, melted chocolate, leaning into the pitch, even...

Patrick and Greg answer a mailbag question about some foundational principles of regression and correlation, specifically the differences among correlation, standardized regression weights, semi-partial correlations, and partial correlations. They also check in with someone from Season 2: Amanda Montoya's undergrad mentee, Kat. Along the way, they also mention: Ap Olo Gies, mocking by text, p...

In today's episode Patrick and Greg talk about statistical degrees of freedom: what they represent, how they are computed, and the importance they play in daily life. Along the way they also mention color blindness, the Skinnylicious menu, Kevin Bacon, Elmo's Diner, the flatties, Amtrak, drinking Guinness at room temperature, sudoku, courage, paying the reaper, Karl Popper's corpse,...

In this episode, Greg and Patrick discuss the many places where researchers make decisions throughout the research process, and they weigh the pros and cons of those researchers having such decision-making freedom. Along the way, they also mention Lucky Charms, frozen waffles for dinner, the fifth down, forking paths, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, sharks in the water, the Dutch, bad actors, the Cyr...

In today's episode Patrick & Greg talk about the use of item parcels in latent variable modeling: what they are, what might motivate you to use them, and what unexpected complications can arise. Along the way they also mention wheel extenders, walking toward the light, logorrhea, party bands, corpse sniffing dogs, boxes of human heads, academic dunking, getting uppity, crane kicks, mic dr...

What starts as a friendly check-in with our intern Ethan McCormick in the Netherlands turns into Ethan's Pop Quiz Revenge around the themes of statistical paradoxes and distributions. Along the way, Greg and Patrick also discuss headlamps, airport carousels, prostrate vs. prostate, operatic ambulances, ungulates, how X-mas got its X, Cobra Kai, bromeo, metric time, clang association, paradoci...

Patrick and Greg talk about the potential advantages and disadvantages of alternative approaches to analyzing two time-point data. They discuss traditional models for raw and residualized change scores, and describe how each of these remains baked into the soul of contemporary models for repeated measures data.  Along the way they also mention: 24 inch pizza pans, movie fails, being otherwise soph...

Greg and Patrick discuss Principal Components Analysis: what it is, what it absolutely isn't, and what kind of cool things it can do in its own right. Along the way, they discuss Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the division symbol, Spider Pig, croissants & skewers, doing a nickel in the big house, jumping the starter solenoid, Ptolemy the Weenie, two fingers of whiskey, embracing the "b...

In this episode, Patrick leads Greg and the rest of us through the incredibly cool and powerful topic of regions of significance, a way to help unpack under what moderating conditions treatments and variable relations are statistically significant. Along the way, they also mention: parallelism, Olivia Newton-John, going to the wrong church, laws in Vermont, pick-a-point, nan-aaaah-meters, the whac...

In the inaugural episode of Season 3, Patrick and Greg argue (more than usual) about statistical conclusion validity: what it is, what affects it, and how it fits in with other types of validity. Along the way they also mention: FrogFest2021, fostering illusions, coughing up a thorax, entrée vs. entry, 50 hours of community service, 8-hour depositions, statistical herpes, and Cheese Cake Factory m...

In this, the third and final episode of SummerQamp, Greg and Patrick embark on a cross country journey in a VW van in quest of the Summer of Love. Along the way they explore three lines of historical development that ultimately come together to close out the 1960's: multiple regression, path analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. They just begin to draw trippy insightful concluding comme...

Nursing their SPF-defying sunburns from SummerQamp 1, Patrick and Greg now find themselves in the woods by a roaring campfire, covered in bug spray. In this second summer installment they transition from previous conversations about the origins of statistics to the incredibly cool and often concurrent history of measurement. Grab a stick, pull up a log, and come roast a marshmallow with us! Stay i...