9/6/12 Week 1 September 4 - 8.

2012 Discussion Questions

Discussion Question 1.1: List at least three important ideas about graphical display of statistics from the material on statistical display at the St. Johns University site and the York University site. What were the most impressive? Use statements of fact, not I think. Do you have any other material on statistical display that you could contribute to the discussion? 1. The use of graphical displays of statistics can be deceptive and ineffective for the audience in which the data is presented to when inappropriate methods are used in creating them, leaving the audience unclear of data that should have been presented concisely. 2. Using graphical display of statistics can mislead an audience and fall short of providing accurate information through the incorrect use of displays to ameliorate, enhance or include excessive information to an otherwise simple or plain display. 3. In the case of the York University site, graphical displays of statistics can be enhanced for the audience with accurate and clear understanding of it as well as provide pertinent information for future use. The Escaping the 2D plane: The Stereogram graphical display was one of the most impressive. The use of this 3 dimensional graph surpassed the limits of the normal 2-D displays and demonstrates the ability to produce a graphical display of statistics in an accurate way while still engaging the audience with a more in depth view. This type of graph brings a new perspective for displaying information pertinent for future viewers, when accounting for population. Another of the more impressive displays was the Mathematica graphic of Minard's depiction of
the fate of Napoleon's army. This particular display would have been useful to Napoleon in his time as it is now by depicting the size of the army as well as temperature. Although his campaign proved disastrous for Napoleon, this display now serves as an important piece of information about the contributing factors that contributed to his demise.

As of today I have had no prior experience with statistical display, outside of my employment which I am not at liberty to disclose. Some of the information I collected involved co-workers production and bonuses.

Discussion Question 1.2: What were the main points of Hans Roslings talk on Ted? Relate his talk to the topics in this weeks readings. Describe how the graphical display enhanced those points. Hans Roslings Talk on Ted was mainly referring to the dangers of aggregated and inaccessible data that could prove extremely useful. In one example he used Vietnam and the U.S. to display the statistics on infant mortality rates. As Vietnam changed from a large family short life country to a long life small family, he pointed out that without looking into the data we underestimated the actual changes. He goes on and indicates that there was a dramatic social change before an economic one. An enormous amount of data is impractical if we are not able to get to acquire and utilize it for our own benefit. The graphical displays were able to clarify raw data which can be bland. When Mr. Rosling exploded the graph of GDP Per Capita and child survival and showed the many countries of Africa and their differences in wealth and child mortality. Usually we group all of these countries together equally instead of looking into the data and finding the real balances.