The Weekly Briefing has current articles, Word of the Week, historical notes, spotlights on jobs and industries, student profiles and more.
Can we trust anything we see? Or hear? Last week saw the news that James Earl Jones was retiring from his role voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, and farming it out to AI. Brief musings follow. Specifically, Jones was licensing the rights…
“In the age of Big Data we often believe that our predictions about the future are better than ever before. But ...in the real world, we often get better results by using simple rules and considering less information.” (From a review of Gerd Gigerenzer’s Data Savvy)…
This week we look at several case studies where success on the AI front was not sufficient to assure longer term business success. Our course spotlight is on: Aug 20 - Sep 17: Introduction to Design of Experiments Learn how to design experiments (especially costly…
This week we look at odds and betting; our course spotlights are July 23 -Aug 20: SQL - Responsible Data ScienceJuly 30 -Aug 27: SQL - Biostatistics 1 - For Medical Science and Public Health See you in class! - Peter BruceFounder of The Institute for Statistics…
This week we look at the increasingly important role of data engineers. Our spotlight is on our Programming for Data Science certificate program -you can start in July with July 9 -Aug 6: SQL - Introduction to Database Queries See you in class! - Peter…
This week we discuss data leaks, which can render apparently well-performing machine learning models useless. Our spotlight is on the Thomas Edison University Data Science Analytics Master’s Program, which was developed in partnership with Statistics.com See you in class! - Peter BruceFounder of The Institute…
This week we spotlight our introductory statistics courses, and take a look at supposed “need to know” statistical concepts for data science. See you in class! - Peter BruceFounder of The Institute for Statistics Education at Statistics.com ................................... News You Need to Know What’s happening…
This week we look at a backdoor method to make predictions come true. Our student spotlight is on Staci Taylor, Assistant Prof. of Nursing at Southeastern Louisiana State Univ., and our featured programs are: Analytics for Data Science Biostatistics See you in class! -…
In this week’s Briefing, we take a look at different strands of “purity” in AI. Our course spotlight is Jan 15 - Feb 12: Introduction to Data Literacy It's for you or anyone you know who needs to get more numerate! See you or them in…
In our Briefing this week, we revisit a topic we looked at a while ago, the epidemiology of gang activity in El Salvador, and look at the impact of Covid. Our spotlight is on: Oct 30 - Nov 27: Sample Size and Power Determination See…
In our Briefing this week, we take a look at unemployment insurance fraud and a statistical tool for catching the crooks. Our course spotlight is on: Oct 23 - Nov 20: Spatial Statistics See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist Unemployment…
In our Briefing this week, we take a look at the role of statistics and analytics in war, from WWII to the present. Our curriculum spotlight is on our Rasch and IRT Mastery - key skills for those involved in designing, developing, and analyzing tests…
This week we take a look at the interesting statistical problem of false positives, which naturally arise when you do lots of diagnostic tests or hypothesis tests. Our course spotlight deals with another aspect of multiple statistical studies - how to combine them into a…
This week we look at the second most popular percentage in statistics: 80%. Our course spotlight is on: Oct 30 –Nov 27: Sample Size and Power Determination See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist The Popular 80% Researchers and analysts are…
This week, our topic is Data Engineering, and we feature a guest blog by Will Goodrum, a data scientist at Elder Research. Our course spotlight is Oct 2 -30: Categorical Data Analysis See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist Four Common…
Vaccines for Covid are in the news, and this week we focus on the clinical trial process that validates vaccines as safe and effective. Our spotlight is on our 10-course Biostatistics Certificate Program. You can get started with Jan 3-31: Biostatistics 1 For Medical Science…
Last week we looked at a notable failure of the statistic “AUC”; this week we dive deeper. Our curriculum spotlight is our 10-course Analytics for Data Science certificate program: compare cost and coverage to ANY Master’s program! You can get started with Sep 11 – Oct…
In this week’s brief, we feature a data-detective story: The Case of the Faulty Generator. Our spotlight is on our Analytics for Data Science certificate program*. See you in class! *Earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Data Science and Analytics concurrently at Thomas Edison State University.…
In this week’s brief we discuss outliers and anomalies, the unusual cases and events that often end up being the focus of attention. Our course spotlight is Nov 6 - Dec 4: Anomaly Detection If you’re interested in this topic, you should also consider the…
In this week’s brief, a continuation of our “Statistical Thinking” series, we reflect on three “myths” in data science and statistics, and spotlight our ten-course Social Science Statistics certificate program. You can get started with either of these courses: Aug 7- Sep 4: Survey Design and…
As Independence Day inaugurates the official summer political season in the U.S. (a season that, in reality, no longer ends), we discuss in this week’s brief uplift models; our course spotlight is on Aug 21 - Sep 18: Persuasion Analytics and Targeting See you in…
In this week’s Brief, the second in our series on statistical thinking, we discuss WWII convoys; our course spotlight is July 10 - Aug 7: Spatial Statistics for GIS Using R See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist Statistical Thinking 2 Safety…
In this week’s Brief, the first in a Statistical Thinking series, we look at how people think about rare events. Our spotlight is on: July 3 - 31: Introductory Statistics (another session starts July 31) See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior…
In this week’s brief we feature a guest blog on Ethical Data Science; our course spotlight is: July 17 – Aug 14: Logistic Regression See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist Ethical Data Science As data science has evolved into AI,…
In this Brief, we visit the issue of “statistical arbitrage” in financial markets, and spotlight two courses: June 12 - July 10: Financial Risk Modeling (today) July 10 - Aug 7: Spatial Statistics for GIS Using R See you in class! P.S. Our newest course,…
Fear of catching Covid-19 dominates the world, so this week we briefly review how humans think about probabilities, in the context of Covid-19. Prior beliefs figure heavily in probability calculations, so our course spotlight is on: July 3 - 31: Introduction to Bayesian Statistics See you…
This week we return to Coronavirus data to look at new analyses that use mobile phone data to estimate the effects of social distancing restrictions, a vital question now are we see the world falling into “lockdown recession.” Speaking of economic matters, our course spotlight…
This week we take a look at evolutionary algorithms (it was 150 years ago that Charles Darwin first used the term “evolution” in his writings). Our course spotlight is: July 17 - Aug 14: Optimization with Linear Programming See you in class! - Peter Bruce…
In this Brief, we dive into the terms “sensitivity” and “specificity” and their relatives. In our course spotlight, clinical trials is the topic. Now there’s a site just for the 800+ clinical trials associated with Covid-19 (treatments and vaccines). Is it time for you to…
In this week’s Brief, we look deeper into the question of whether Covid-19 is a senior citizen disease. Our course spotlight is twofold: Start in May or June: Mastery in Statistical Modeling (3 courses) June 12 to July 10 Analyzing and Modeling Covid-19 Data See…
Models of virus growth are in the news, and this week we take a closer look at the modeling of epidemics, and introduce our newest course: June 12 to July 10 Analyzing and Modeling Covid-19 Data We’ll cover analysis of covid data broadly, and focus…
In this week’s Brief we take a look at Python vrs. R, and feature some conversations with data scientists. Our spotlight is on our introductory statistical programming courses: May 15 - June 12: Introduction to Python Programming May 15 - June 12: R Programming Introduction…
In this week’s Brief, we explore what data on the flu can tell us about Covid-19 counter-measures. Our course spotlight is July 31 - Sept 25: Biostatistics See you in class! - Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist Social Distancing and the Flu The…
In this week’s Brief, we look in greater detail at Elder Research, Inc., which recently acquired Statistics.com. If your organization is like most organizations, your data science initiatives may lack the direction and support they need to succeed - having a data science team does…
In this special Brief we step back and look at various estimates of the projected death toll from the coronavirus. Would you like to learn more about the statistical analysis of disease? We’re offering a special self-paced course to those seeking to improve their knowledge…
In this week’s Brief, we look at p-values. Plus, we’ve scheduled a couple of extra course sessions for April: Use the month of April to introduce yourself to Python, or, for those with some Python familiarity, learn how to apply it to predictive analytics. April…
In this week’s Brief, we look again at the statistics of Coronavirus. We also spotlight our Health Analytics Mastery - a 3-course series in which you can choose from among Biostatistics 1 and 2 Designing Valid Statistical Studies Epidemiologic Statistics * Introduction to Statistical Issues…
In this week’s Brief, we look at the coronavirus, and the problem of estimating prevalence and mortality. Our course spotlight is Nov 8 - Dec 6: Epidemiologic Statistics (we're adding a spring session - email us to be notified when registration opens at ourcourses@statistics.com) See…
In this week’s Brief, we look at combining models. Our course spotlight is April 17 - May 1: Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) You’ve probably seen lots of references to MLE in other contexts - this quick 2-week course (only $299) is your chance to study…
In this week’s Brief, we look at ways to determine optimal sample size. Our course spotlight is April 10 - May 8: Sample Size and Power Determination See you in class! - Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist Big Sample, Unreliable Result The 1948…
In this week’s Brief, we look at hierarchical and mixed models. Our course spotlight is April 10 - May 8: Generalized Linear Models April 24 - May 22: Mixed and Hierarchical Linear Models See you in class! - Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist…
In this week’s Brief, we look at social categories, and the role that statistics and data science have played in social engineering - 100 years ago and today. Our course spotlight is April 3 - May 1: Categorical Data Analysis See you in class! -…
Last week we looked at several metrics for assessing the performance of classification models - accuracy, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves, and lift (gains). In this week’s Brief we move beyond lift and cover uplift. Our course spotlight again is: Feb 28 - Mar 27:…
Tomorrow is the New Hampshire political primary in the US, and this week’s Brief looks at the statistical concept of lift. Our spotlight is on: Feb 28 - Mar 27: Persuasion Analytics and Targeting See you in class! - Peter Bruce, Founder Lift and…
In this week’s blog, we discuss our recent acquisition by Elder Research Inc. We also look at the “Canary Trap” and its connection to text mining. Our course spotlight is on Jan 31 to Feb 28: Text Mining using Python (still open for registrations, first…
This week we discuss the importance of choosing the right analytics problem, with a guest blog from Elder Research, Inc., a data science and analytics consulting and training company, with whom we have just joined forces. Our course spotlight is on: Feb 14 - Mar 13: Design…
This week’s Brief takes a look at ethical dilemmas in data science. Our course spotlight is on Feb 21 - Mar 20: Network Analysis See you in class! - Peter Bruce, Founder and President The Institute for Statistics Education at Statistics.com Ethical Dilemmas in Data…
In this Brief, we look at prosaic, but lucrative applications of predictive analytics and forecasting to the automotive industry. Our spotlight is on our 3-course Predictive Analytics Mastery Series. Start this week with: Jan. 10 - Feb 7: Predictive Analytics 1 See you in…
Happy New Year! We are grateful for your continued support and appreciate your interest in learning more about statistics, analytics, and data science. In this new year, think of your learning as an investment both in the future of your company and your career. Below are courses, certificates, and…
In this Brief, we take a look at the use of simulations as a tool to help sales people with a complex sale (high value, multiple aspects to consider). Our spotlight is on the 3-course Mastery Series in Optimization Research, which starts January 10 with:…
In 2005, the cardboard box was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame (along with Candy Land). In our brief this week we consider whether analytics has anything to say about cardboard boxes. Our course spotlight is on: Jan 3 - 31: R Programming…
This week we look at the casino business - in particular, the odds on slots. In our course spotlight, we start looking at some of the great stuff starting in at the beginning of the new year. In January, you can get started with basic statistics or biostatistics,…
In this week’s Brief, we take a look at the history of betting and how it is entwined with probabilistic decision-making. Probabilistic decision-making is also the focus of our 3-course Optimization Mastery, which covers linear programming, integer programming, simulation and other operations research (O/R) techniques. Start…
This week we look at several ways to fool yourself, statistically - variants of the “Gambler’s Fallacy.” Gambling is all about accurately assessing risk, so, naturally, our featured course is: Nov 15 - Dec 13: Risk Simulation and Queuing See you in class! - Peter Bruce,…
This week we take a look at how AI encodes human bias, despite our best efforts. Our spotlight this week is on: Nov 8 - Dec 6: Deep Learning See you in class! - Peter Bruce, Chief Academic Officer, Author, Instructor, and Founder The Institute for…
Here in Part 2 of the Weekly Brief, we offer some tools to help you with the question, “what is the optimal set of alternatives to offer consumers?” Our course spotlight is on: Aug 30 - Sep 27: Discrete Choice Modeling and Conjoint Analysis See you in…
This week we discuss the distinction between explanatory and predictive modeling and spotlight the workhorses of statistical modeling: Oct 4 - Nov 1: Regression Analysis Oct 4 - Nov 1: Categorical Data Analysis See you in class! - Peter Bruce, Chief Academic Officer, Author, Instructor, and Founder The Institute for Statistics Education at Statistics.com…
We continue Monday's discussion of "people analytics' with a look from the customer's side and a call for all thinkers! (see below) Our course spotlight is on: Sep 6 - Oct 4: Predictive Analytics 1 - Machine Learning Tools Sep 6 - Oct 4: Programming 1…
In this week’s Brief, analytics comes to the HR department (“people analytics”), and our course spotlight is on: Sep 6 - Oct 4: Predictive Analytics 1 Sep 6 - Oct 4: Programming 1 (R or Python) These courses are excellent entry points into our data…
In part 1 of this week’s brief, we looked at political analytics; in Part 2 we extend that look to commercial domains. Our course spotlight is Persuasion Analytics, taught by Ken Strasma, who pioneered the use of statistical modeling to microtarget voters in the 2004…
