## How to study statistics (Part 1)

September 9, 2013
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To students of statistics Most of my posts are directed at teachers and how to teach statistics. The blog this week and next is devoted to students. I present principles that will help you to learn statistics. I’m turning them … Continue reading →

## Program chair

September 8, 2013
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The other day, Julien asked me if I wanted to run for program chair of the ISBA Section on Biostatistics and Pharmaceutical Statistics, of which I am a member.I thought about it for a bit and then I decided to go for it. I'm up against the incumbe...

## Jobs @ UCL

September 8, 2013
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Irene (who, among other things, is one of the co-apps in the RDD project $-$ in fact, she'll be a fundamental part of the research!) sent me a couple of job adverts for research assistant positions that will shortly be available at UCL. She and the job...

## Mixed models; Random Coefficients, part 1

September 8, 2013
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Continuing with my exploration of mixed models I am now at the first part of random coefficients: example 59.5 for proc mixed (page 5034 of the SAS/STAT 12.3 Manual). This means I skipped examples 59.3 (plotting the likelihood) and 59.4 (known G and R)...

## What we need here is some peer review for statistical graphics

September 8, 2013
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Under the heading, “Bad graph candidate,” Kevin Wright points to this article [link fixed], writing: Some of the figures use the same line type for two different series. More egregious are the confidence intervals that are constant width instead of increasing in width into the future. Indeed. What’s even more embarrassing is that these graphs […]The post What we need here is some peer review for statistical graphics appeared first…

## Forecast-Error Insurance

September 8, 2013
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Yale economists Mark Rosenzweig and Chris Udry have a new paper, "Forecasting Profitability." It's related to a project of theirs that examines the Indian Meteorological Department's annual monsoon rainfall forecasts and their effec...

## Visualizing optimization process

September 8, 2013
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One of the approaches to graph drawing is application of so called force-directed algorithms. In its simplest form the idea is to layout the nodes on plane so that all edges in the graph have approximately equal length. This problem has very intuitive ...

## Linear regression from a contingency table

September 8, 2013
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This morning, Benoit sent me an email, about an exercise he found in an econometric textbook, about linear regression. Consider the following dataset, Here, variable X denotes the income, and Y the expenses. The goal was to fit a linear regression (actually, in the email, it was mentioned that we should try to fit an heteroscedastic model, but let us skip this part). So Benoit’s question was more or less: how…

## Job openings at American University

September 7, 2013
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American University in Washington, D.C. has two full-time tenure-line positions available: An ideal candidate will have facility with computation, and can identify specific prospects for on-campus collaboration, possibly interdepartmental. We are particularly interested in candidates who can assist colleagues who need to deal with data sets that are too large, distributed, or heterogeneous to be […]The post Job openings at American University appeared first on Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and…

## Here’s what happened when I finished my PhD thesis

September 7, 2013
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May 11, midday: Made a list of all the things I needed to do to finish the thesis. May 12, midday: Tear up the list, decide to finish it with what I had at hand. May 13, 7am: Thesis finished. It was very satisfying. Right now, I remain on a high f...

## A newcomer at Statisfaction

September 7, 2013
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Hi Statisfied readers, I am Nicolas Chopin,  a Professor of Statistics at the ENSAE, and my colleagues and good friends that manage Statisfaction kindly agreed that I would join their blog. I work mostly on “Bayesian Computation”, i.e. Monte Carlo and non-Monte Carlo methods to compute Bayesian quantities; a strong focus of my research is […]

September 7, 2013
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Are you using MS Word for your paper works? And MS PowerPoint for your presentations? Why not try something that is FREE, powerful than those commercial products? Something that is quite challenging but FUN to use. Introducing $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$, a d...

## Probability of Avoiding a Run-off in the NYC 2013 Democratic Primary Election

September 7, 2013
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The New York City mayoral Democratic primary election is taking place this coming Tuesday (Sep. 10th) and there are several candidates in the running. Bill de Blasio is the front runner and is expected to win. However, there is a catch. Even if he takes the plurality of the vote he may not actually win. […]

## Tom Sargent, Quantitative Economics, and Python

September 6, 2013
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Speaking of Tom Sargent, check out his latest at http://www.quant-econ.net/.  (Thanks to Frank DiTragila for forwarding a few days ago.)  Python features prominently...

## Bayesian methods article wins best paper award in Organizational Research Methods

September 6, 2013
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The article, "The Time Has Come: Bayesian Methods for Data Analysis in the Organizational Sciences," won the 2012 Best Paper Award for the journal, Organizational Research Methods. The publisher has made the article freely available. You can see the an...

## Would today’s captains of industry be happier in a 1950s-style world?

September 6, 2013
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In a post about “rich whiners,” Matthew Yglesias argues that what richies really want is respect. Yglesias writes: I think rich businessmen would be happier if we could go back to 1950s-style, more egalitarian distribution of pre-tax income. The richest people around would still be the richest people around, and as the richest people around […]The post Would today’s captains of industry be happier in a 1950s-style world? appeared first…

## C/C++: Frequency Distribution

September 6, 2013
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The first 40 raw data of Systolic Blood pressure (in mmHg) of Simplified Biostatistics by Abubakar S. Asaad is utilize in the demonstration below.Output:C Codes: C++ Codes:

## Fed Chair Desiderata

September 6, 2013
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I'm so bored with the endless Larry and Janet show.  Finally some real wisdom, from John Cochrane. Tom Sargent has my vote!

## Implementing Evidence-based Data Analysis: Treading a New Path for Reproducible Research (Part 3)

September 5, 2013
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Last week I talked about how we might be able to improve data analyses by moving towards "evidence-based" data analysis and to use data analytic techniques that are proven to be useful based on statistical research rather. My feeling was … Continue reading →

## Stephen Senn: Open Season (guest post)

September 5, 2013
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Stephen Senn Head, Methodology and Statistics Group, Competence Center for Methodology and Statistics (CCMS), Luxembourg “Open Season” The recent joint statement(1) by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations(EFPIA) represents a further step in what has been a slow journey towards (one assumes) will be […]

## A locally organized online BDA course on G+ hangout?

September 5, 2013
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Eoin Lawless wrote me: I’ve been reading your blog (and John Kruschke‘s) for several months now, as a result of starting to learn Bayesian methods from Doing Bayesian Data Analysis [I love the title of that book! --- ed.]. More recently I completed a Coursera course on Data Science. I found learning through the medium […]The post A locally organized online BDA course on G+ hangout? appeared first on Statistical…

## Timid testers: evidence from a suppressed study

September 5, 2013
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Note: This is part 1 of a three-part response to an important article that appeared in the New York Times this month. Doping in elite sports has become a taboo topic in sports circles as no one wants to kill the golden egg. This article will prove to be an important reference. *** Tim Rohan's article is a must-read for anyone who cares about the sanctity of sports (link). I…

## LISTING vs. HTML output in SAS: Confessions of an HTML convert

September 5, 2013
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Last week I presented two talks at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, which has established a new Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Analysis Using SAS. While in Milwaukee, I ran into an old friend: the ODS LISTING destination. One of my presentations was a hands-on workshop titled Getting Started [...]