Math Education
Measuring Up, SAT Scores, and Coding Interviews
Introduction Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us is a 2008 book by Professor Daniel Koretz of Harvard. Koretz, the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at…
Probability and Statistics
Articles
Probability and Statistics
Review of Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists
DAMNED LIES AND STATISTICS: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists (UPDATED EDITION) Joel Best University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California 2001, 2012 Print…
Probability and Statistics
How to Remember the Key Bayes Formula in Statistics
Bayes Formula is a simple formula that gives a rule for updating the probability that a hypothesis is true given new evidence — information or data. For example,…
Probability and Statistics
How to Hang Yourself with Statistics
A practical understanding of probability and statistics at an advanced, at least college, level is increasingly important in the modern world. For example, many expensive and potentially hazardous…
Applied Math
The Cold Hit Problem
The previous article Are Fingerprints Unique? discussed the case of Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim American attorney from the Portland, Oregon area who was wrongly identified as one of…
Essential Math
What are the odds? Flipping 10 heads in a row
singingbanana released an interesting video about the odds of flipping 10 heads in a row. It is basic probability and the video is entertaining enough to warrant sharing…
Applied Math
When Science Fails
The recent New Yorker article The Truth Wears Off: Is there something wrong with the scientific method? by Jonah Lehrer (December 13, 2010) discusses several cases where a…
Essential Math
The Cost of Not Understanding Probability Theory
Misconceptions about probability theory and statistics have major repercussions on society. From seemingly minor things like the excessive sensationalism of some headlines, all the way to the jailing…