Resource Library

"Chingola Tankhouse" is a poem by Scottish poet Eveline Pye from Glasgow Caledonin University. The poem was written about her experiences working as an Operational Research Analyst for Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines in Zambia from 1975 to 1983. The poem was originally published in 1995 in Scottish literary publication West Coast Magazine. "Chingola Tankhouse" might be used in course discussions of the importance of controlling for important factors in observational studies in order to draw important conclusions.

A song to be used in discussions of the problems and challenges with modern polling (e.g. the use of Robo calling contact methods and the very low response rates making weighting to avoid bias more crucial than sampling variability issues). The lyrics were written in 2016 by Dennis Pearl from Penn State University and Lawrence Lesser from University of Texas at El Paso. The song may be sung to the tune of Bob Seger's 1978 hit "Old Time Rock and Roll." Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.

"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." is a quote by German Physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) that can be used in discussing the validity of measurements. The quote arose in a series of lectures delivered at University of St. Andrews, Scotland in the 1955-1956 academic year and published in Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (1958).

A song to be used in discussing experimental design and the importance of control, replication, randomization, and blocking. The song was written by Laura Krajewski, an undergraduate student at University of Toronto, Mississauga and took first place in the 2015 A-mu-sing contest. May be sung to the tune of "I Love You Will Still Sound the Same" by Oh Honey.

A cartoon that can be used in discussions about sampling plans, the dangers of voluntary sampling, and the importance of human subjects review in carrying out research. The "Dragon sampling" idea was due to Dennis Pearl of Penn State University. The caption came from the participants at a 2015 USCOTS breakout session as part of a caption writing activity facilitated by Dennis Pearl, Larry Lesser, and John Weber. The cartoon was sketched live during a previous session by British cartoonist John Landers with the color version being finished during this second session (see Dragon Sampling I for the caption created during the first session). This is the second of two captions for this cartoon. All Landers copyrighted cartoons on CAUSEweb are free for non-profit educational use.

A cartoon that can be used in discussions about sampling plans and the difficulty of implementing a plan (or in discussions of inclusion and exclusion criteria in an experiment). The "Dragon sampling" idea was due to Dennis Pearl of Penn State University. The caption came from the participants at a 2015 USCOTS breakout session as part of a caption writing activity facilitated by Dennis Pearl, Larry Lesser, and John Weber. The cartoon was sketched live during the session by British cartoonist John Landers (with the color version being finished during a second session). This is the first of two captions for this cartoon. All Landers copyrighted cartoons on CAUSEweb are free for non-profit educational use.

A poem that can be used in discussing how to critique a research study. The poem was written in 2015 by Professor Lawrence Mark Lesser from University of Texas at El Paso.

"Failing the possibility of measuring that which you desire, the lust for measurement may, for example, merely result in your measuring something else - and perhaps forgetting the difference - or in your ignoring some things because they cannot be measured." A quote by British statistician George Udny Yule that can be used in discussing the validity of measurements. The quote is contained on the last page of his famous 1921 British Journal of Psychology paper "The essentials of mental measurement." The quote is commonly paraphrased as "In our lust for measurement, we frequently measure that which we can rather than that which we wish to measure... and forget that there is a difference."

A cartoon for teaching about using the t-distribution for inference when the standard deviation is unknown. The cartoon was created by Karen Banks from University of Indiana using the software at www.bitstrips.com. The cartoon also won a prize in the CAUSE 2013 A-Mu-sing contest.

A song that might be used in pre-service courses for statistics teachers (or professional development workshops) to point out why using technology is preferred to training students to use Normal Probability Tables. The lyrics were composed by Robert Carver of Stonehill College. May be sung to the tune of the "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" written by Schoenberg and Kretmer for the play Les Miserables. The lyrics won an honorable mention in the CAUSE 2013 A-Mu-sing contest. Musical accompaniment realization and vocals are by Joshua Lintz from University of Texas at El Paso.