Abstract The paper relates that one of man's greatest fears is that of the power of numbers. The paper demonstrates how statistics are used to misrepresent, under-represent or over-represent an event, occurrence, situation or phenomenon. The paper defines statistics as a set of numeric values obtained by way of a measurement process. This process can be either one of observation or direct testing. The paper reveals that the most widely used means whereby researchers lie is with statistics, usually for increased profits and sensationalism. The paper illustrates how companies can use a self-selecting population for survey results, or they use obscure definitions and data sets that mislead consumers.
From the Paper "For most people numbers are nothing more than a hodgepodge of digits that are bewildering and oftentimes meaningless. As a result individuals often prefer to judge events, occurrences, phenomena, and situations from a traditionalist point of view wherein reason, conclusion, and inferences are made on the basis of past experiences rather than on best practices policies. Justification for historical acceptance is usually based on a fear of numbers and a lack of willingness to extract meaningful information from them. For those accepting of the alternatives, statistical tools have been devised wherein it is possible to extract meaningful information from data and interpret whatever the data holds as its' secret."
Abstract This paper discusses the morality and ethics behind lies. It bases its discussion on three different sources, which are attached in the appendix. The paper states that although there is nearly universal agreement in human societies that lying is wrong, most people instinctively know that they should not tell lies, but they do not really understand the ethics-based foundation of why lying is wrong. A close examination leads the paper to the conclusion that while lying is ethically and morally wrong in most conceivable cases, there do seem to be conditions and circumstances in which lying is not wrong.
From the Paper "Ultimately, examining these different ethical perspectives on lying and taking into account various contributing factors indicates that while lying is ethically and morally wrong in most conceivable cases, there do seem to be conditions and circumstances in which lying is not wrong. Some philosophers have argued that it even appears to be the case that in relatively rare circumstances, not lying would be morally and ethically wrong. But these are exceptions to the prevailing ethical and moral standard that lying is wrong."
Abstract This paper looks at one of Al Franken's (the writer and performer of the popular television show Saturday Night Live) most popular works, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. " First, the paper discusses several types of media bias that Franken reveals. Then, it looks at some of arguments that Franken makes about mainstream media coverage, as well as his criticisms of conservative media pundits and media sources. All the while, the paper presents the writer's opinion as to Franken's validity.
From the Paper "Al Franken and Lies Going from writer and performer on the ever-popular television show, Saturday Night Live, Al Franken has become a political pundit for American liberals and a successful writer of critical commentary books that are both humorous and politically sound. The first biases that Franken notes are those that "stem from something called 'the profit motive'" (Franken 1). "
Abstract This paper evaluates the ethics of lying in business in the context of two recent high profile cases: Enron and Martha Stewart. It concludes that lying is bad business that cannot be justified.
Abstract This paper argues that lying in business cannot be justified, even if it is to protect trade secrets. The paper uses two high profile cases as examples: Martha Stewart's case where she was found guilty of insider trading and the Enron scandal which involved the entire financial assets of the company.
From the Paper "Some executives justifying to protect trade secrets or to maintain a competitive advantage that could affect their ability to remain profitable. There are those, however, who feel that lying calls an individual's-or a company's-integrity into question. If a company is willing to lie about its product, or its plans or in its advertising what else does it lie about? This research examines two recent high-profile instances of company executives caught lying and concludes that lying by company officials cannot be justified."
Abstract The paper analyzes the book; "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen. The paper quotes the author's analysis of the content and style of history books used in American classrooms. The paper examines the author's claim that these history books focus is on patriotic highlights of American history rather than fostering critical thinking skills.
From the Paper ""High school students hate history." So begins the powerful book; "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen, which seeks to establish the underlying reasons for why this statement is all too. As Loewen puts it; "Our situation is this: American history is full of fantastic and important stories. These stories have the power to spellbind audiences, even audiences of difficult seventh graders. Yet they sleep through the classes that present it." (Loewen introduction)"
Abstract This paper studies how graduate students perceive the study of statistics and the impact that their anxiety about the subject matter has on their overall performance. The paper cites several research studies which indicate that statistics anxiety is quite high. Furthermore, the paper proves that this anxiety significantly erodes the overall quality and level of the students' research projects. The paper then offers suggestions to improve the teaching of statistics, as well as other suggestions to strengthen students' skills at statistical analysis.
From the Paper "Statistics anxiety has been defined simply as anxiety that occurs as a result of encountering statistics in any form and at any level (Onwuegbuzie, DaRos, & Ryan, 1997), and has been found to negatively affect learning (Onwuegbuzie & Seaman, 1995). Many researchers (Lazar, 1990; Lalonde & Gardner, 1993; Onwuegbuzie, 2000b) suggested that learning statistics is as difficult as learning a foreign language. On the other hand, statistics anxiety sometimes is not necessarily due to the lack of training or insufficient skills, but due to the misperception about statistics and negative experiences in a statistical class. For instance, students often think they do not have enough mathematics training so that they cannot do well in statistical classes. With fear of failing the course, they delay enrolling in statistics courses as long as possible, which often leads to failure to complete their degree programs (Onwuegbuzie, 1997). The lack of self-efficacy and higher anxiety in statistics keep many students away from engaging in research work or further to pursue an academic career. Therefore, statistics becomes one of the most anxiety-inducing courses in their programs of study (Blalock, 1987; Caine, Centa, Doroff, Horowitz, & Wisenbaker, 1978; Schacht & Stewart, 1990; Zeidner, 1991)."
Abstract The practice of statistics in a manufacturing facility is incredibly important for two key reasons: Statistics help to address economic concerns and the functionality of equipment. This paper examines these two specific areas in respect to how statistics are necessary to promote the best interests of the manufacturing facilities. This paper takes the form of an applied knowledge report, where the materials are examined and are then demonstrated in their practice.
Abstract This paper in business statistics examines the usage of statistical methods in corporate performance measurement. It concludes that statistics have a central place in measuring corporate performance.
Abstract This document discusses a series of descriptive statistics questions. These range from the four types of errors related to measurement as well as response and non-response related errors. Finally, the paper makes several statistical calculations in order to establish the efficacy and practicality of descriptive statistics. Specifically, these problems rectify issues of accuracy and estimation.
From the Paper "The four major sources of measurement error are respondent, situation, measurer, and instrument. Respondent errors might occur through respondent misinterpretation of a given question or, in the case of a written survey or questionnaire, actual response error (Lomax, 2001, pp.29-31). A situational error would occur when, for example, a political survey for a given district was being taken in another district. Measurer originated errors can occur in several ways from construction and design of the actual study to poor selection of participants as well as misinterpretation of study results or actual errors in compilation of results. Instrument, such as surveys or questionnaires, often occur because they question or respond to something other than what is being tested or researched. "
Abstract This paper examines some of the ways to teach statistics that will best overcome some of the main problems that students encounter while learning statistics and offers solutions to these problems.
From the Paper "Students do not normally encounter statistics until they are in college--at least not on any kind of practicable level--unless they are in extremely advanced mathematics classes at their high school. Even so, not every high school offers statistics as a course, while almost every college does. Teaching and learning statistics is problematic for most college students and teachers because to learn and understand statistics, it is necessary to first have a grasp of some of the properties and features of higher mathematics. Many college students do not have these skills upon entering college, and many professors assume that they do have these skills when beginning to teach a statistics course."
Abstract This paper discusses the application of statistical concepts. Most importantly it focuses on the use of normal distribution and central limit theorem as it relates to statistics.
From the Paper "The normal distribution is the most important pattern of data that occurs in statistics. It is a common distribution modelling the heights of people, the weights of similar animals, the number of bushels of peas produced per acre per year etc. Rongrong Xie writes in The American Statistician that the reason the normal distribution is interesting is that it has an important use in the statistical theory of drawing conclusions from sample data about the populations from which the samples are drawn..."
Tags:statistics, normal distribution, central limit theorem, distribution, sample data
Abstract The area of statistical data gathering on which this paper focuses is that of patients from OB units, or mothers who have recently undergone care during labor, delivery and the postnatal period. Various statistical information that can be gathered from OB patients is discussed, suggestions are made for additional information that could be collected, some concerns are discussed regarding issues of privacy that come along with information collection, and the advantages of improving decision making by collecting information are looked at.
From the Paper "There are many reasons for health care providers to collect and interpret data taken from their outgoing patients. Some of these might include bettering the facility's ability to provide care and services, to better avoid infections or complications that may be common occurrences, and to give the patient/consumer a say in the quality and development of their care and the health care system, as a whole. The area of statistical data gathering on which this paper will focus is that of patients from OB units, or mothers who have recently undergone care during labor, delivery, and the postnatal period."
The following paper is a statistical analysis of the results of the 2000 presidential election, through regression analysis and hypothesis testing to call into question the validity of the results.
Abstract The following paper draws into question the results of the vote in Florida in the 2000 presidential election. The data set is drawn from the Florida Department of State. The purpose of this paper is not to address a value judgement, rather it is an attempt to investigate whether the differentials in the recount are statistically significant, indicating the presence of some sort of irregularity.
From the Paper "19th century elections were characterized by accusations of dirty politics and election fraud. Increasingly in the 20th century, counting procedures became more accurate, communication improved and, seemingly, election results should be reported expeditiously and without question of accuracy. However, several weeks after our nation's most critical election, a gamut of irregularities, particularly in Florida, whose electoral votes will determine the outcome of the election, has delayed the recognition of a winner. With George W. Bush's lead vacillating well under one thousand votes, an adjustment of a decidedly small proportion of the votes could change the outcome of the election. This paper discusses two of the irregularities that render Bush's seeming victory in the state uncertain."
Tags: election, statistics, bar, graph, county, net, differential, results, initial, count, first, recount, axis, represent
Abstract This paper is about global trade statistics. It looks at the role of the WTO and discusses direction and trends in trade, structure of world trade, Egypt in world trade, and major exporters and importers.
From the Paper "Sluggish import demand in Western Europe and a sharp contraction of Latin America's imports constituted a drag on global trade expansion. The World Trade Organization WTO suggests that developments in ..."
Tags: Global trade, balance of trade, export, import, statistics, egypt, trends, deficit, egypt
