I try to distinguish for clients 1) gathering information systematically and carefully, summarizing it, presenting it with all its warts, and attempting to make the uncertainty explicit from 2) just using whatever happens to come into our experience ignoring the inherent uncertainty. I discuss stat as a tool for inferential and critical thinking. I think some discussion of what the alternatives are in building ideas helps build skepticism. I also try to activate their critical thinking by showing them books by Kahneman, Tversky, Paulos, Nisbett, Abelson, Dawes, etc.
Sometimes I show them some optical illusions to make the point that we should not put perfect trust in our direct experience. Hope this helps. Art [EMAIL PROTECTED] Social Research Consultants University Park, MD USA Simon, Steve, PhD wrote: > 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. > . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
