This is it – a leap from the descriptive to the inferential. We are leaving the comfort of the sample we have collected data on and we’re about to make a statement that relates to the world beyond: we are inferring stuff. Annoyingly, this first step is a phrase disturbingly close to another. The ‘standard error […]
Category: archimedes
StatsMiniBlog: Parametric? :-/ Like paramedic or paralegal?
We have – in this microseries of miniblogs – looked at data distributions and describing what we’ve got. We’re ready for the big leap now; from description into inference. What can we say about how our data relate to the world at large? And the first thing to do is to clarify a deeply unhelpful […]
A little bit of formula?
Exclusive breastfeeding is regarded by WHO and by most, if not all, paediatric academies, as the ideal for newborns and infants up to 6 months old. It is also recommended that breastfeeding begins as soon as possible after birth. That is why the small pilot study by Flaherman et al is both interesting and controversial. […]
StatsMiniBlog: Transformations
There are a host of things in the world that undergo transformations. These are often physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. But numbers need love too, and we are getting to know that deep, deep down, we all love Normality. […]
StatsMiniBlog: Size and variability
Now you now know you continuous data can be Normal or not Normal (but we might be able to tweak that … see the next post) and we’d like to be able to describe it clearly and accurately. We could just reproduce every bit, but we really want to compress it to get the meat […]
StatsMiniBlog: Order and Normality
You’ve cracked the first step with data – you can tell if its continuous or discrete. As you progress to stats nirvana, you need to delve more deeply into the stuff. […]
StatsMiniBlog: Continuous vs. Categorical
So – in response to a tweet from @DocNadine Archi will be attempting to do a series of short posts on some ‘stats’ things. What would you like to see covered? A short and simple one today. Continuous vs. Categorical […]
Picket line
Do you remember we started looking out for new studies, important studies, that would change the way we thought about paediatric practice, or confirmed that we didn’t need to? It was back in 2010 and we’ve not stopped. But we’d like to hear from you if you want to join in. […]
Sometimes the best available isn’t so
There’s an issue with EBM. It’s that it relies on the best available evidence. So what if the best evidence is deliberately obscured, hidden behind a paywall, or subject to the precursor to publication bias (“can’t be arsed” bias, where the folk performing an investigation don’t have the motivation to write up, present, and submit their work for publication). […]
Guest Post: Ten pitfalls of small group teaching
A guest blog post from Nadine McCrea Recently I had the pleasure of facilitating an evening seminar on small group teaching. We had a lot of fun, spending most of the time having discussions and undertaking tasks in a variety of bizarrely named set-ups (snowballing anyone?). We identified that small group teaching provides huge […]