Category: Data Set

Decreasing Body Temperatures

Posted sullystatsLeave a commentPosted in Data Set, Research Article, Statistics Articles

Researchers at Stanford University used data from the Union Army Veterans of the Civil War (1860-1940), the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1971-1975), and the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (2007-2017) to determine that the mean body temperature in men and women has decreased by 0.03 degrees Celsius per birth decade.  The reduction in body temperature is a proxy for metabolic rate and this may help to explain the changes in the health of humans and the increase in life expectancy. In 1851, Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich measured the body temperature of 25,000 humans and found that normal body temperature was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (or 37 degrees Celsius).  […]

Beware the Lurking Variable

Posted sullystatsLeave a commentPosted in Data Set, Statistics Articles

I just completed the discussion on correlation and regression with my Introductory Statistics students. One of the recommendations within the new GAISE outline is to introduce students to multivariate analysis.  A classic application of this practice is the SAT score versus teacher salary data. This data may be found by joining a group I created in StatCrunch titled “SullyStats”. To join the group, go to www.statcrunch.com (if you don’t have a StatCrunch account, ask you Pearson representative for an account).  Under Explore, select Groups. Type SullyStats into the search box and join the group.  The data set is titled “SAT versus Teacher Salaries“ Use the data to illustrate the danger […]

Quartiles and Boxplots

Posted sullystatsLeave a commentPosted in Classroom Strategy, Data Set

I just finished teaching Chapter 3 of my text today.  To introduce the idea of quartiles and boxplots, I used two data sets.  The first is from the PayScale ROI Report.  The data set includes annual return on investment, total four year cost, graduation rate, and other variables for all colleges and universities throughout the country.  The data is available at http://www.payscale.com/college-roi I also uploaded the data to StatCrunch.  Search for “PayScale_ROI_2017” under Explore > Data. I used the ROI data to find quartiles, identify outliers (very interesting), and draw boxplots.  By selecting this data, I was able to discuss one of the many factors a student should consider in […]