Humberto Barreto writes:
> I want to teach my students that it is hard to sample and
> that the "simple" in SRS does not mean easy, but I end up
> teaching them that it is impossible to do. All I do is
> create a bunch of critics who, no matter the design, rip
> it. How can I strike a balance? I want them to doubt, but
> not to refuse to believe.
This is a problem that I see also. It's a sort of nihilism that says that because the statistics are imperfect, you can't trust anything they say.
Perhaps we need to trumpet some of the many success stories in statistics. One of my favorites is how careful research in the 50's and 60's established a causal link between smoking and lung cancer. Each individual study may have had some flaws, but the cumulative evidence across the large number of studies provided a level of proof that was very strong.
I'd be interested in how other people approach this. We need a way to teach students to have healthy skepticism, but not cynicism.
Steve Simon, [EMAIL PROTECTED], Standard Disclaimer.
The STATS web page has moved to
http://www.childrens-mercy.org/stats.
