License, registration, and proof of random selection please
March Results:
The cartoon for our 118th cartoon caption contest in March is shown above. Amongst the 79 submissions for the contest, the judges found the winning caption to be "License, registration, and proof of random selection please,” written by Ethan Shade, a student at University of Colorado at Boulder. Ethan’s caption can be used in discussing the properties of random selection - why those properties are important and how they can be checked in real situations.
An honorable mention this month goes to another student from University of Colorado at Boulder, Jacob Krol, for his caption “The law of large numbers cracks down on small sample sizes.” Jacob’s caption can lead to discussions about the probability statements that can be made about the convergence of averages to their corresponding population values with large random samples.
A second honorable mention goes to Jim Alloway from EMSQ Associates for his caption “The reproducibility police take a dim view on moving unfavorable data to a different location.” Jim’s caption leads naturally to a discussion of reproducibility and the hope that as reproducibility practices become ever more widely used, the practice of failing to report unfavorable data will dwindle. Other concepts illustrated by the cartoon used in submitted captions included ideas about moving averages and about how a five-number summary represents a distribution (noticing the moving company trailer and that there were 5 numbers in the car).
Thanks to everyone who submitted a caption and congratulations to our winners!