My new job involves working with numbers. A lot. So, I started reading about using numbers, and I very much enjoyed ‘The Triumph of Numbers’ by I.B. Cohen (2005). This book gives an historical account not only of how numbers were used in different times, but also of ‘how counting shaped modern life’.
The books [...]
Posts under ‘Statistics’
The Triumph of Numbers – Cohen (2005)
Book: A conceptual introduction to statistics
How does one teach statistics? Is it more important to start with mathematical thoroughness, or to help students to gain a conceptual understanding first? There’s something to say about both, depending on the setting you’re in, but fact is that most books on statistics (even the introductory ones) rapidly delve into the mathematical depths of [...]
Collective curiosity?
Those of you who have ever attended a ‘Fête Nos’, a typical Brêton festival-type of gathering with music and people dancing, may immediately understand what I’m going to write about. All the others who have attended another gathering of a large number of people will also be completely familiar with my revived curiosity in [...]
Example multi-actor simulation
Recently, I discussed the M.A.R.S simulation models developed by Iannaccone and Makowsky. Based on what I read, I decided to try to work out a similar simulation myself. I did so using R-Project and it resulted in the simulation shown below. For more details on the syntax I used, visit the `my functions’ part of [...]
Guest article on Woopra.com
`Six Blogs of Separation’, my guest article on Woopra.com, was published today. In it, I explore the utility of technological advances to answer existing sociological research questions. The internet is still a relatively new medium and with the rise of blogging, it becomes really interesting to investigate the social consequences of this new way of connecting to other people. Will social cleavages diminish, or will existing social cleavages remain in the blogosphere? But, how to accurately combine information on both internet behavior with background- and other characteristics of interest to the social scientist?
useR! 2008: Retrieving old data using ‘read.isi’
Today I was notified that my proposal for a presentation on userR! 2008, the The R User Conference 2008, is approved. Actually, I applied for a poster-presentation, but apparently the organization upgraded it to a full presentation. The presentation will be on a macro I programmed, enabling me to retrieve old statistical data, which was [...]
Conservatief Polen nekt Europees abortusonderzoek?
Abortus is één van de meer ingrijpende en waarschijnlijk het meest controversiële aspect van de menselijke vruchtbaarheid. Of eigenlijk vooral de vrouwelijke vruchtbaarheid, want naast fysieke redenen lijken mannen nog altijd minder verantwoordelijkheid te (hoeven) dragen rondom dergelijke besluiten en de gevolgen ervan. Het is dan ook niet verwonderlijk dat de legalisering van abortus in [...]
Zaak Lucia de B. wordt herzien
De zaak van verpleegkundige Lucia de B, veroordeeld voor de moord op zeven patiënten en drie pogingen daartoe, moet worden herzien. Dat heeft de `Commissie evaluatie afgesloten strafzaken’ geadviseerd aan het OM.
Hoewel ik bepaald geen deskundige ben op het gebied van deze zaak heb ik deze wel vanaf het begin gevolgd. In eerste instantie omdat [...]
Influence.ME: an R package providing tools for detecting influential data in mixed models.