The final article in our series on data and its interpretation is a short piece entitled "Momentous Sprint at the 2156 Olympics?". I have included 3 files here: the actual article by Tatem et al. (2004), the data file, and a note on the methods used by the authors. The question that I would pose for your consideration is...do you agree with the authors' assertion that the evidence suggests that the gap between male and female Olympic sprinters is getting smaller and may disappear within the next 40 or 50 years? Can you critically analyze the statistical methods used by the authors and offer some alternative interpretation of the data?
Showing posts with label statistics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label statistics. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Momentous Sprint
The final article in our series on data and its interpretation is a short piece entitled "Momentous Sprint at the 2156 Olympics?". I have included 3 files here: the actual article by Tatem et al. (2004), the data file, and a note on the methods used by the authors. The question that I would pose for your consideration is...do you agree with the authors' assertion that the evidence suggests that the gap between male and female Olympic sprinters is getting smaller and may disappear within the next 40 or 50 years? Can you critically analyze the statistical methods used by the authors and offer some alternative interpretation of the data?
The Significance of Insignificant Results
What happens when a scientific experiment results in failure to falsify the null hypothesis? Typically negative results get filed away in a cabinet, never to be published or shared with the rest of the research committee. But what is the cost to science of this system in terms of duplicated effort? The article "Null and Void" explores some of these issues, mostly in the biological sciences. What are some of the suggested solutions posed by the author, and do you think this issue has any relevance for anthropologists?
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