Honors Science Seminar: Data and Statistics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Catalog description

Mark Twain popularized the saying "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." This course addresses the many ways that the seemingly objective processes of sample selection, data collection, analysis, and statistics can be subject to inadvertent or purposeful bias and have been used inappropriately to promote subjective (at best) and false (at worse) conclusions in the field of science. Students will explore topics in data collection, data science, and basic statistical inference with an eye toward spotting flimsy statistical arguments.