Today is World Statistics Day 2020!
Now, I can hear you think: Is there a day for statistics? Like, really?? Surely this is only celebrated by statisticians a.k.a. old grey bearded men?
Thankfully we are long past the time when checking the box for sporting a grey beard was required to obtain the qualification of a statistician. All jokes aside, with the theme “Connecting the world with data we trust” World Statistics Day 2020 has never been more relevant for everyone from statisticians to researchers to the general public. And while this day may not make the evening news highlights, it did make the newspaper!
Because this day is not only for statisticians, here are a few activities you can do to mark the day.
Fake news hunt
This could easily be a family activity. It is like a treasure hunt, but without the treasure. Everybody picks a piece of news that is based on data or statistics and presents it to the others as the news of the day. Other players try to verify the news and ultimately vote if it is fake news or not. For some added creativity you could create your own news story (fake or not). Find out how convincing a story you can tell from data or how easily you are misled.
Read a statistics book
No, we are not talking about statistics for dummies or an undergraduate textbook. But a book about the role of statistics in our society, or the history of statistics (and why we care about them), or maybe even how statistics results from research are being misused/misrepresented.
Ever wondered how you can lie with statistics? Now is the time to find out.
The cookie experiment
Baking the perfect cookie is the result of meticulous experimenting. Due to variability in oven temperature, ingredient quality and mixing techniques the results can vary from recipe to recipe and from baker to baker. Sounds familiar?
Involve your friends/roommates/family and have a perfect cookie competition. You all start from the same recipe and you are allowed as many attempts as you wish.
Hot tip: use your researcher skills to set up an experimental design to control for variation you know of.
These are just a few ideas to have some fun with statistics. It may be hard to see how engaging in World Statistics Day 2020 will benefit you as a researcher but sometimes you need to think outside the box to reap the most benefit.
By engaging with statistics in a different context, you will learn new skills or learn that you had more skills than you ever gave yourself credit for. Both are valuable when you bring them back to the office tomorrow.
Disclaimer
The Statistical Consulting Unit does not provide advice on how to obtain the perfect cookie or about how to spread fake news. However, if you have research related questions on study design, data collection and/or analysis, do get in touch!
Marijke joined the Statistical Consulting Unit in May 2019. She is passionate about explaining statistics, especially to those who deem themselves not statistically gifted.