Statistics

If odds are not odd, what about odds ratios?

What are the odds of developing a brain tumor from long-term use of cell phones? This is an evolving area of research.  Some studies have found an association and others have not. But two recent meta-analyses suggest that the odds are about 33 to 44% greater due to long-term cell phone usage. Got your attention?…

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Odds and probability…two sides of the same coin

What are the lifetime odds of dying from being hit by a meteorite? 1 in 1,600,000. Yep, not very likely.  You are much more likely to die from a dog attack (1 in 86,781) or from a lightning strike (1 in 138,849). But why odds? Why not express these likelihoods in terms of probabilities?  Seems…

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Curse of Big Data

“Big data.” We checked in with Google search trends recently. Appears that “Big Data” has lost its luster search-wise…started trending down about 4 years ago. Nowadays, everything is big data? Implications of big data However, this does not mean we should lose sight of certain statistical implications associated with being “big”. Yes, large amounts of…

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