Standard Deviations

Standard Deviations PDF Author: Gary Smith
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1468310682
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
How statistical data is used, misused, and abused every day to fool us: “A very entertaining book about a very serious problem.” —Robert J. Shiller, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Irrational Exuberance Did you know that baseball players whose names begin with “D” are more likely to die young? That Asian Americans are most susceptible to heart attacks on the fourth day of the month? That drinking a full pot of coffee every morning adds years to your life, but one cup a day increases your pancreatic cancer risk? These “facts” have been argued with a straight face by credentialed researchers and backed up with reams of data and convincing statistics. As Nobel Prize–winning economist Ronald Coase cynically observed, “If you torture data long enough, it will confess.” Lying with statistics is a time-honored con. In Standard Deviations, economics professor Gary Smith walks us through the various tricks and traps that people use to back up their own crackpot theories. Sometimes, the unscrupulous deliberately try to mislead us. Other times, the well-intentioned are blissfully unaware of the mischief they are committing. Today, data is so plentiful that researchers spend precious little time distinguishing between good, meaningful indicators and total rubbish. Not only do others use data to fool us, we fool ourselves. Drawing on breakthrough research in behavioral economics and using clear examples, Standard Deviations demystifies the science behind statistics and makes it easy to spot the fraud all around us. “An entertaining primer . . . packed with figures, tables, graphs and ludicrous examples from people who know better (academics, scientists) and those who don’t (political candidates, advertisers).” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Standard Deviations

Standard Deviations PDF Author: Gary Smith
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1468310682
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
How statistical data is used, misused, and abused every day to fool us: “A very entertaining book about a very serious problem.” —Robert J. Shiller, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Irrational Exuberance Did you know that baseball players whose names begin with “D” are more likely to die young? That Asian Americans are most susceptible to heart attacks on the fourth day of the month? That drinking a full pot of coffee every morning adds years to your life, but one cup a day increases your pancreatic cancer risk? These “facts” have been argued with a straight face by credentialed researchers and backed up with reams of data and convincing statistics. As Nobel Prize–winning economist Ronald Coase cynically observed, “If you torture data long enough, it will confess.” Lying with statistics is a time-honored con. In Standard Deviations, economics professor Gary Smith walks us through the various tricks and traps that people use to back up their own crackpot theories. Sometimes, the unscrupulous deliberately try to mislead us. Other times, the well-intentioned are blissfully unaware of the mischief they are committing. Today, data is so plentiful that researchers spend precious little time distinguishing between good, meaningful indicators and total rubbish. Not only do others use data to fool us, we fool ourselves. Drawing on breakthrough research in behavioral economics and using clear examples, Standard Deviations demystifies the science behind statistics and makes it easy to spot the fraud all around us. “An entertaining primer . . . packed with figures, tables, graphs and ludicrous examples from people who know better (academics, scientists) and those who don’t (political candidates, advertisers).” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Nine Practices of 21st Century Leadership

Nine Practices of 21st Century Leadership PDF Author: Gary A. DePaul
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000622991
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 423

Get Book Here

Book Description
Near the end of the 20th Century, the leadership concept radically evolved away from the traditional concept of accomplishing work through others. Unfortunately, too many professionals unconsciously still have faulty traditional assumptions that can get them, their teams, and their organizations in trouble. The author has researched the evolution of leadership and summarizes seven contemporary principles, twenty-six underlying leadership beliefs, and nine crucial practices of 21st Century Leadership. While too many leadership books focus on qualities, DePaul explains specific behaviors for practicing leadership. The second edition includes new research about leadership and leadership development. With the pandemic, organizations have had to rely more on effective leadership to build high-performing teams, often at a distance. Training departments have had to radically update how they develop employees at all levels, and executive coaches have transitioned to virtual client support. With all these environmental changes as well as new social pressures on organizations to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion, organizations need to change how they lead and avoid allowing their culture to develop by chance.

The Unobtrusive Researcher

The Unobtrusive Researcher PDF Author: Allan Kellehear
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000319512
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Get Book Here

Book Description
What does graffiti reveal about social behaviour? Where can you find out about Australian social values without doing your own survey? There is more to social research than surveys and in-depth interviews. The Unobtrusive Researcher looks beyond the limited accounts people provide of themselves to examine society at a deeper level. Written in a clear, easy to read style, The Unobtrusive Researcher is a practical guide to a range of methods that can supplement and, at times, even replace conventional social research. It is essential reading for new and experienced researchers in the Social Sciences, Education, Communication Studies and Cultural Studies. Methods discussed include: library and archival work audiovisual sources observation techniques material culture the use of cameras and computers 'Witty, clear and concise.a remarkable overview of the field.' - Professor Bryan Turner, Deakin University 'One of the few guides to research methods which takes on board the implications of poststructuralist theory for research, The Unobtrusive Researcher will be useful both for practising researchers wanting to broaden and update their approaches, and those at the very beginning of learning how to do research.' - Professor Ann Curthoys, University of Technology, Sydney

Effective Ecology

Effective Ecology PDF Author: Roger D. Cousens
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000923622
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ecology is one of the most challenging of sciences, with unambiguous knowledge much harder to achieve than it might seem. But it is also one of the most important sciences for the future health of our planet. It is vital that our efforts are as effective as possible at achieving our desired outcomes. This book is intended to help individual ecologists to develop a better vision for their ecology – and the way they can best contribute to science. The central premise is that to advance ecology effectively as a discipline, ecologists need to be able to establish conclusive answers to key questions rather than merely proposing plausible explanations for mundane observations. Ecologists need clear and honest understanding of how we have come to do things the way we do them now, the limitations of our approaches, our goals for the future and how we may need to change our approaches if we are to maintain or enhance our relevance and credibility. Readers are taken through examples to show what a critical appraisal can reveal and how this approach can benefit ecology if it is applied more routinely. Ecological systems are notable for their complexity and their variability. Ecology is, as indicated by the title of this book, a truly difficult science. Ecologists have achieved a great deal, but they can do better. This book aims to encourage early-career researchers to be realistic about their expectations: to question everything, not to take everything for granted, and to make up their own minds.

Understanding Understanding

Understanding Understanding PDF Author: Richard Mason
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791486125
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 141

Get Book Here

Book Description
How is understanding to be understood? Are there limits to understanding? What of importance, if anything, could lie beyond understanding? And do we need to understand knowledge before we can know about understanding? Richard Mason's argument is that a critical theory of under¬standing, modeled on past theories of knowledge, cannot be workable. Understanding may bring wisdom: an uncomfort¬able thought for many philosophers in the twentieth century. Yet philosophy aims at expanding understanding at least as much as knowledge. How we understand understanding affects how we understand philosophy. If we put aside a narrow view of under¬standing based upon a Cartesian model of knowledge, we may gain a more liberal, open understanding of philosophy. Mason's treatment of these fascinating problems offers a clear and lucid dialogue with a number of contemporary philosophical schools and with philosophy's past. His discussions include the thought of Hume, Henry James, Heidegger, Frege, Charles Taylor, Michael Oakeshott, Wittgenstein, Gadamer, James Joyce, and the Guyaki Indians. This fascinating book contributes to the work of many of these traditions as well as to the nature of understanding in areas as diverse as physics, music, and linguistics.

Nine Practices of 21st Century Leadership

Nine Practices of 21st Century Leadership PDF Author: Gary A. DePaul
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1498720609
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Get Book Here

Book Description
Most leadership books focus on traditional leadership, which is based on managerial practices and command-and-control assumptions. Traditional leadership methods produce short-term gains but often at the cost of employee disengagement, team isolation, and distrust. Twenty-first century leadership methods produce short-term gains while inspiring cre

Relating Theory and Data

Relating Theory and Data PDF Author: William E. Hockley
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1317760123
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 644

Get Book Here

Book Description
This festschrift represents the proceedings of a conference held in honor of Bennet B. Murdock, one of the foremost researchers and theoreticians on human memory and cognition. A highly renowned investigator respected for both his empirical and theoretical contributions to the field, Murdock summarized and focused a large amount of research activity with his 1974 book Human Memory: Theory and Data. This unique collection of articles addresses many of the issues discussed in his classic text. Divided into five principal sections, its coverage includes: theoretical perspectives on human memory ranging from a biological view to an exposition of the value of formal models; recent progress in the study of processes in immediate memory and recognition memory; and new developments in componential and distributed approaches to the modeling of human memory. Each section concludes with an integrative commentary provided by some of Murdock’s eminent colleagues from the University of Toronto. Thus, this book offers a diversity of perspectives on contemporary topics in the discipline, and will be of interest to students and scholars in all branches of cognitive science.

Statistical Persuasion

Statistical Persuasion PDF Author: Robert W. Pearson
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1412974968
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 425

Get Book Here

Book Description
This text helps readers understand how to collect, manage, evaluate, and analyze data. It also provides guidelines for the presentation of analysis, especially for nonacademic audiences without training in statistical analysis. These guidelines help ensure that statistics and graphical displays tell the story that analysts want to convey while protecting their analysis from methodological criticism. Author Robert Pearson focuses attention on the conceptual understanding of statistics, while referring (sparingly) to specific formulas when they help reveal a conceptual point about the statistics. Key Features · Combines a concern for the design, collection, measurement, and the management of data with its analysis and presentation · Provides examples and data concerning real world problems in education, crime, government performance, and other policy arenas · Clearly demonstrates the steps used to generate the appropriate statistics and graphs in Excel and SPSS and then provides exercises to replicate and elaborate on these examples This book and its supporting materials are ideally suited for graduate students in professional degree programs in public policy, education, social work, criminology, urban planning, and related schools as well as advanced undergraduates in these fields. The book's explanations, descriptions, illustrations, and step-by-step exercises create the skills and knowledge required of a policy analyst, advisor, consultant or the elected or appointed public official or nonprofit officer who wants to be better able to interpret and evaluate others' applied social research. Its data sets, solutions sets, instructors' manual, lecture slides, and student workbook provide instructors with a complete and fully integrated instructional package.

Clinical Assessment For Massage Therapy

Clinical Assessment For Massage Therapy PDF Author: David Zulak
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
ISBN: 1909141577
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 1530

Get Book Here

Book Description
The book brings together a range of examination and assessment techniques which are otherwise only found in a variety of different places. It presents them in a way relevant to massage therapists. The book will be used by MT students to learn of the existence of these techniques and how and when to use them. More experienced MTs will use the book to enhance, update and extend their skills in what is a key area if appropriate therapy is to be given.

Organisational Semiotics for Business Informatics

Organisational Semiotics for Business Informatics PDF Author: Kecheng Liu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135915377
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book Here

Book Description
Drawing meaningful conclusions from organisational data is challenging, and theoretical frameworks can often illuminate information in fresh and useful ways. This book is one of the first to demonstrate how organisational semiotics can be applied to business informatics and information systems. Semiotics, a long-established discipline of signs, offers a rich philosophical and theoretical foundation for understanding information systems. This book demonstrates how applying the framework of semiotics to an organisation can provide insights into its communication needs, and as a result, enhance the design of its information system. The authors demonstrate how organisations collect, process, represent, store and consume information through a complex system which is aligned to support its objectives and enhance performance. Organisational Semiotics for Business Informatics clearly introduces the basic principles and describes a set of methods and techniques rooted in organisational semiotics. These have been applied to business applications; demonstrated through real life case studies. This ground-breaking book has the potential to transform the theoretical understanding of information systems into the basis of a scientific discipline.