Table of Contents
To read these stories, go back to the magazine cover and click on their titles.
WHY IS THIS SKYLINE NORMAL? Hint: Have you ever heard of the normal curve?.
WHY ARE CREDIT CARD NUMBERS SO LONG? The answer to one of life's mysteries.
DO CHAMPIONS CHOKE? Few champions (other than the Chicago Bulls) repeat their victories. What is the cause of this apparent decline in skill?
THE WORLD SERIES AND THE PRESIDENCY During presidential election years, the league that wins the World Series determines which party wins the White House.
THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON LIFE EXPECTANCY How do scientists confirm that air pollution is hazardous to human health?
Twenty games designed to challenge and refine your statistical thinking. Includes the favorites listed below. Mac version only.
TANK FIGHT Would you rather command a large army of small tanks of a small army of large tanks?
EVASIVE BALLOONS How skillful are you with the mouse? See how quickly you can pop dancing balloons.
ROSHAMBO Play Rock, Scissors, Paper against the computer.
PICK A DOOR Play Let's Make a Deal Against the Computer.
BATTING PRACTICE Take your swings at an electronic baseball.
How much do you really know? Test yourself with hundreds of statistical multiple-choice questions; hints if you're wrong, further explanation if you're right. Mac version only.
Is this the most user-friendly statistics program around? Try it and see.
DESCRIPTION Histograms, box plots, means, medians, and more.
UNCERTAINTY Probability distributions and simulations.
INFERENCE Estimation, tests, ANOVA, chi-square, regression.
Links to datasets covering a wide array of topics.
ECONOMICS Exchange rates, income, financial markets.
SPORTS Football, baseball
HEALTH Health of the elderly, infectious diseases
POLITICS Campaign financing, party affiliation of incumbents and challengers
Projects to help you learn statistical concepts and apply them to your life.
SELF-PERCEPTION AND GENDER How does gender affect perceptions of our height, weight, intellect, and attractiveness?
SUPERSTITIOUS INVESTORS Discover whether investors react to Friday the 13th.
SUGAR-COATED, SUPER-CHOCOLATE, FROSTED O's Is Cap’n Crunch taking you to the cleaners? Investigate the link between grams of sugar per serving and cereal prices.
Learn how to cite sources and pick up a few grammar tips along the way.
GENERAL GUIDELINES What’s the correct symbol for multiplication? How many spaces should follow a period or a colon? What are smart quotes?
GRAMMAR TIPS Passive vs. active verbs, parallel construction, data vs. datum
QUIZ Think you know grammar? Try this.
Voice your concerns, questions, and comments.
Gary Smith's Homepage
COURSE SYLLABI 1999 Statistics, Security Valuation and Portfolio Theory, Financial Decision Making.
ARTICLES COAUTHORED WITH STUDENTS Baseball Players Regress Toward the Mean, Are Jewish Deathdates Affected by the Timing of Religious Holidays?, Can the Famous Really Postpone Death?, Macroeconomic Modeling of Money, Credit, and Banking
OTHER FUN STUFF Betsy, Joanna, Joshua, log cabins, and band concerts.
These programs are intended for your personal use. They must not be used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without explicit written permission from Gary Smith.