Here's a thoughtful editorial from NYT on averages. The author, Stephanie Coontz, gives some nice examples of what outliers can do to a mean, and how extreme scores can mislead us about patterns in our data. Have fun reading it!
Month: May 2013
Can early math skills help you make money?
The Atlantic provides a clearly written summary of a recent longitudinal study. The headline reads: Study: Math Skills at Age 7 Predict How Much Money You'll Make According to the summary, the researchers measured kids' IQ, math skills, reading skills, and SES (Socio-economic status) at age 7, and then measured their income at age 42. …
Targets of prejudice manage impressions
How would you respond if you knew that people might stereotype you negatively? That's what one study recently asked. They wondered how people would approach a social situation if they were worried about the stereotypes the other person might have about them. The studies in question can provide you with some handy practice on factorial designs. Scientific American wrote about …