Statistics Experience Homework

Homework
Important

  • This homework is due Wednesday, April 26 at 5:00pm.

  • No late work for this assignment will be accepted.

  • There is no GitHub repo for this assignment. Read all instructions.

The world of statistics and data science is vast and continually growing! The goal of the statistics experience assignment is to help you engage with statistics and data science communities outside of the classroom.

There will be one statistics experience assignment that will count as a homework grade. The submission for the statistics experience is due on Wednesday, April 26 at 5:00pm on Gradescope. No late work will be accepted for the statistics experience. You may submit the statistics experience assignment anytime between now and the deadline.

Each experience has two parts:

1️⃣ Have a statistics experience

2️⃣ Make a slide summarizing on your experience

You must complete both parts to receive credit.

Part 1: Experience statistics outside of the classroom

Complete an activity in one of the categories below. Under each category are suggested activities. You do not have to do each one these suggested activities. You are welcome to find other activities as long as they are related to statistics/data science and they fit in one of the six categories. You can email Professor Fisher if there is an activity you’d like to do but you’re not sure if it qualifies for the statistics experience.

Category 1: Attend a talk or conference

Attend an talk, panel, or conference related to statistics or data science. If you are attending a single talk or panel, it must be at least 30 minutes to count towards the statistics experience. The event can be in-person or online.

Category 2: Talk with a statistician/ data scientist

Talk with someone who uses statistics in their daily work. This could include a professor, professional in industry, graduate student, etc.

Category 3: Listen to a podcast / watch video

Listen to a podcast or watch a video about statistics and data science. The podcast or video must be at least 30 minutes to count towards the statistics experience. A few suggestions are below:

This list is not exhaustive. You may listen to other podcasts or watch other statistics/data science videos not included on this list. Ask your professor if you are unsure whether a particular podcast or video will count towards the statistics experience.

Category 4: Participate in a data science competition or challenge

Participate in a statistics or data science competition. You can participate individually or with a team. Information for an upcoming data challenge is linked below.

Category 5: Read a book on statistics/data science

There are a lot of books about statistics, data science, and related topics. A few suggestions are below. If you decide to read a book that isn’t on this list, ask your professor to make sure it counts toward the experience. Many of these books are available through Duke library.

  • The Signal and the Noise: Why so many predictions fail - but some don’t by Nate Silver
  • How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information by Alberto Cairo
  • The Art of Statistics: How to learn from data by David Spiegelhalter
  • List of books about data science ethics

Category 6: TidyTuesday

You may also participate in a TidyTuesday challenge. New data sets are announced on Monday afternoons. You can find more information about TidyTuesday and see the data in the TidyTuesday GitHub repo.

A few guidelines:

  • Create a GitHub repo for your TidyTuesday submission.
  • Your repo should include
    • The R Markdown file with all the code needed to reproduce your visualization.
    • In the README file:
      • Include an image of your final visualization
      • Write a short summary (~ 1 paragraph) about your visualization
  • The visualization should include features or customization that are beyond what we’ve done in class .
  • Include the link to your GitHub repo in the slide summarizing your experience.

Part 2: Summarize your experience

Make one slide summarizing your experience. Submit the slide as a PDF on Gradescope.

Include the following on your slide:

  • Name and brief description of the event/podcast/competition/etc.
  • Something you found new, interesting, or unexpected
  • How the event/podcast/competition/etc. connects to something we’ve done in class.
  • Citation or link to web page for event/competition/etc.

Click here to see a template to help you get started on your slide. Your slide does not have to follow this exact format; it just needs to include the information mentioned above and be easily readable (i.e. use a reasonable font size!). Creativity is encouraged!

Submission

Submit the reflection as a PDF under the Statistics Experience assignment on Gradescope by Wednesday, April 26 at 5:00pm. It must be submitted by the deadline on Gradescope to be considered for grading.