Someone noticed that I have not been posting recently. It’s not because I’m dead or ill or anything like that. I am migrating my blog and website to a markdown format. This is a fairly minimalist approach, but I’m hoping that it will make my site easier to maintain. Unfortunately, my work at UMKC got very busy right in the middle of the transition, so it might be a while before things get fully migrated. In the meantime, please be patient.
PMean: Finding me on the Internet
It is worth tracking the limited number of websites that mention me (and not people who share my first and last name). Here are a few places where I get mentioned, albeit very briefly in some cases. Continue reading
Recommended: PROC-X.com. An online (unofficial) SAS journal – written by bloggers
A nice site that aggregates blog posts about SAS from a variety of authors. Continue reading
Recommended: Scientists’ grant writing styles vary by gender
This is a brief summary of a research paper (apparently behind a pay wall, boo!) that looked at the language used in research grants submitted to the Gates Foundation. It found differences by gender in word choices. Men are more likely to choose “broad” words versus women who choose “narrow” words. These two terms are put in quotes because what you and I think they might mean are different from how the researchers defined them. Read the paper to find out more about this. It is definitely worth reading, even if you might disagree with the authors definitions of broad and narrow. Continue reading
PMean: Several Python resources
I have not had the time to learn Python yet, but it is on my short term list of research goals. I attended a very nice talk about Python and data science and tried to get a list of interesting resources in Python from that talk. Here is my incomplete and imperfect list. Continue reading
Recommended: Assessment Resource Tools for Improving Statistical Thinking
A great teaching resource with a test bank of items to assess knowledge and attitudes about Statistics. There are also links to other helpful resources. Continue reading
PMean: Writing the methods section of a research paper
I’m teaching a class on Clinical Research Methodology and at least a few of the students are confused about what to put in the methods section of a research paper or a thesis. They’re confused? I’m even more confused than they are. Every paper and every thesis is different, so it is impossible to offer any coherent guidance. But let me try anyway. Continue reading
Recommended: A tribute to Douglas C. Altman, DSc
This a brief and personal recollection of Doug Altman, a statistician who has had great influence in the practice of Statistics and the reporting of research results. There is also a nice Wikipedia write-up on Dr. Altman. Continue reading
Recommended: Data science curriculum roadmap
How do you teach data science? That’s not an easy question, because data science means different things to different people. This site shows different curricula depending on what you want your program to emphasize. Continue reading
Recommended: Separating Unique and Duplicated Observations Using PROC SORT in SAS 9.3 and Newer Versions
SAS has some very powerful ways to find duplicate values and to store the duplicates separate from the unique values. Many of these use the sort procedure. Here is a nice guideline for what would otherwise be very difficult to figure out on your own. Continue reading