Stats + Stories

Most articles that appear in academic journals are kind of mundane in that they’re extending the work of scholars who have come before, or sometimes taking an old theory in a new direction. There are those moments however, when a piece of research holds the possibility of fundamentally remaking a field. How should those articles be handled? What’s the ethical way to review such research? That’s th...

In the United States, like many countries, middle-aged and older workers are increasingly a larger proportion of the workforce. The needs of these workers is different than those you are younger and can run the gamut from educational to health needs. That's the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guests Takashi‌ ‌Yamashita‌ and Phyllis A. Cummins Takashi‌ ‌Yamashita‌ ‌‌is‌ ‌an‌ ‌associate‌...

A randomized controlled trial is viewed as the golden standard in medical research, particularly as it relates to treatments or interventions. But there may be pitfalls to trusting that approach too much. That's the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Erik van Zwet. -Timestamps- What is a RCT? (1:15), What are characteristic of a well designed trial? (2:00), How did you get inter...

Cities are places where continuity and change co-exist. History shapes neighborhoods and the relationships between them, while economic forces can reshape a city’s landscape and skyline. In Washington D-C, the friction between continuity and change is ever present. The data and the research that goes into planning such a place is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories, with guest Andrew Tr...

Conner Jackson is a Research Instructor in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health. He serves as the chair of the Education Committee for the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis and teaches a 6-week short course about statistics and data science to bench scientists. His research focuses on the analysis of correlated data, largely in the context...

When American comedian and actor Betty White died, fans lamented the fact that she had just missed making it to her 100th birthday. They felt she’d been robbed of achieving a significant life moment. Some researchers think that this century could see more people making it to that moment and beyond. That’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Michael Pearce. Michael Pearce is a...

Earth day was launched in 1970 in the aftermath of several environmental disasters in the publication of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring". It was designed to help raise awareness of environmental issues and has since grown into a global event. With this year's Earth Day taking out a particular urgency in light of the most recent UN Climate Report. But what goes into the scientific research that inf...

Rosemary and John both have a passion for teaching. Their experience with classes ranges from mentored studies with a few students, to face-to-face classes with close to 100 students. Recently online classes that might be held synchronously or asynchronously with classes somewhere in between. What if you wanted to offer classes too many more students, who might be based anywhere around the world....

No matter how careful a researcher or statistician is there's the possibility that an error made exists in reported data. The trick as a reader is figuring out how to identify errors and then understand what they might mean. Learning how to be a statistical detective as a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Kristin Sainani. Kristin Sainani(née Cobb)(@KristinSainani) is a professo...

Meteorologists go to school to be able to predict the weather accurately, but for some people, weather prediction is a hobby. Maybe they have a trick knee that hurts when it rains or perhaps they know when a storm is coming by how the birds at their feeders are behaving. Some lucky folks have pets that can help them figure out what the weather is going to do and that’s the focus of this episode of...

The utility of standardized testing is under debate in the US with opponents of their use in K-12 suggesting educators are now being forced to teach to tests. In higher education, there's been a push to abandon the use of standardized tests in admissions processes. But if we throw out standardized tests completely, are we throwing away a tool that still has some value? That's a question framing th...

Data Journalism is a hot topic in the news business. Reporters working in diverse media and diverse markets are increasingly being asked to work with data. What exactly makes for good data journalism and what does a reporter need to understand to use data well. Those are a few of the questions discussed on The Data Journalism Podcast and that is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with...

Impacting statistical and data science communites is aspiration that many of us share. Outlets for such impact include work environments where we may collaborate with interdisciplinary teams. Other newer outlets are podcasting in a variety of publishing platforms. Today we will explore the origin story of such a contributor with guest Roger Peng. Roger D. Peng (@rdpeng) is a Professor of Biostatis...

Impacting the statistical data science communities has an aspiration many of us share. Outlets for such impact include work environments where we may collaborate with interdisciplinary teams as well as other newer outlets such as podcasting and a variety of publishing platforms. Today we will explore the origin story of such a contributor in Hilary Parker. Hilary Parker (@hspter) is a Data Scienti...

Since the 1990’s people have been trying to figure out who’s the best friend. Is it Chandler because of his dry wit? Phoebe because of her unabashed enthusiasm? Joey because his loyalty? Well, leave it to statistics to give us a firm answer. Who’s the best friend from the show Friends is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Mathias Basner Mathias Basner is a professor in the D...

From Florence Nightingale to David Cox we hear at Stats and Stories love tales of the careers of statisticians who made an impact on the world. Yes, friends in nursing, we claim Florence as part of statistics too. While those two pioneers are no longer with us, Jana Asher is here with us today in this episode of Stats and Short Stories. Jana Asher is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Stati...

Dr. Dennis Pearl is a Professor of Statistics at Pennsylvania State University and Director of the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE). Dr. Pearl's education work centers on building a national infrastructure to support instructors of statistics, developing resources for instructors in both statistics and probability education, and developing and testing ne...

Gambling is often tricky topic. It got Pete Rose kicked out of baseball, and more recently, made news when Michigan State University announced a betting partnership with Ceasers entertainment. As with everything new media and big data have only complicated the conversations around games of skill vs. games of chance. That’s the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Dr. Mike Orkin. Dr. M...

The Gilded Age in the U.S. is perhaps best known for the great men who rose to prominence at the time. Men such as John D. Rockefeller and JP Morgan, who made money hand over fist. One of those men Andrew Carnegie was not only a shrewd businessman, he was also a shrewd statistician of sorts. His legacy is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Christopher Tong. How you got inter...

On a recent episode of Stats+Stories, Timandra Harkness talked with us about the rise of today’s data economy. On today’s episode of Stats and Short Stories we want to shift the focus to the future of that data economy and how advancing technologies like the metaverse will play in. Harkness writes and presents BBC Radio 4 documentaries including the series FutureProofing and How To Disagree, and A...

An entire industry has grown up around nutrition and health. People pushing everything from shakes, to meal kits, to special diets. While some of the claims surrounding such products can be questionable at best, the field of nutrition science is growing. Filled with researchers who are working to truly understand the science of food that is a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest M...

Do you remember the first time you saw a prompt in social media asking about a product you were searching for on some other online platform? How about the first time you received coupons sent from your local grocery that incentivized buying your favorite consumable items? Today’s episode of Stats+Stories focuses on the origin, expansion and future of the data economy with guest Timandra Harkness a...

Our lives are increasingly shaped by statistics and data. However, they remain concepts that can be difficult for broad audiences to understand. A number of outlets, including this one, have sprung up to help make them more accessible. Today another one, the “Not So Standard Deviations” podcast is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guests Hilary Parker and Roger D. Peng. Hilary Parker...

When we talk about human rights we often focus on qualitative narratives; the tales of struggles faced by refugees, of rights denied to individuals during war, of the fight for clean food and water, but undergirding all those stories are statistics. Statistics that allow us to gain insight into the scope of a human rights issue, or the size of a population living through particular human rights ab...

There's so much data out there about COVID-19 it can be hard to make sense of it all. Over the last year, a couple of statisticians have been working to help the readers of the Guardian, get a handle on the numbers. Dr. Anthony Masters and Sir David John Spiegelhalter have a new book out based on their weekly blog titled COVID by the Numbers, which is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories...