Math: The Stats Ma'am... Just the Stats

Look... I know some people don't like math. I know some people struggled with it in school and don't see the point of advanced math. I also know I was one of those kids who really liked math and to whom it all made sense. Until I got derailed early in university (but I digress).

One branch of mathematics is rising to a new found prominence - statistics. Statistics is incredibly powerful for two different reasons.

First it allows us interpret information about large groups (people, cars, planets, etc) by looking at a small sample of the things we're looking at. You don't have to ask everyone in a country how they'll vote to run an opinion poll - though I do still think we should all get our individual votes counted in the election. Statistics tells you how to find the group properly (so as not to end up with a biased result), tells you how to ask the questions, and tells you how to interpret the results. It even can tell you how accurate the results of the sampling are.

Secondly statistics allows you to understand what's behind numbers. How to pluck information and meaning out of piles and piles of information. With computers we have more information than every. In many cases businesses and governments don't have to worry about sampling the data since the computers can look at it all. Learning about what the information can tell us is very important. Especially when there is so much information going around.

If you want a light hearted but serious look at the power and uses of statistics then you should look no further than Hans Rosling's program on the BBC The Joy of Stats. Hans Rosling is a professor of International Health and Director of the Gapminder Foundation - which is hosting the Joy of Stats and other videos. Hans burst onto the scene with several celebrated TED talks. He's a fantastic public speaker. The same page that holds the Joy of Stats also links to some of his other videos.

Poke around and see how modern stats can change how you think. Hans Rosling will make you reconsider the idea of the third world. He'll make you change your mind on population growth and give you new insights into HIV and other diseases. He may even make you think that statistics is sexy.

Math: So You Want To Be A Mathematician?

With school starting this seems like a good time to find out what it takes to learn a good cross section of modern math. Which leads to the aptly names How to Become a Pure Mathematician (or Statistician) website.

The main page is the overview and contains a few notes at the bottom. I don't suggest clicking on the stage links (ie Stage 1, Stage 2, etc). Since the site is created using blogger the Stage links show the posts for that stage but not necessarily in the correct order. Clicking on the links below the Stage headings is much more useful. Elementary Stuff is where to begin.

The site itself is nothing more than a collection of links to books and resources. Direct links in the case of resources and books that are online and amazon links to the rest.

Even if you don't want to become a mathematician or a statistician give the site a look. The list of topics and required readings is overwhelming. No wonder it's hard to become a mathematician.

Gender: Redressing Gender Balance (part 2)

It shouldn't surprise you that there is a major gender imbalance in higher education. That there is not even close parity between the sexes in the number of degrees given out by universities and colleges should shock no one. After all if you think about it it's obvious there is a disparity.

What isn't obvious and should come as a shock is that the gap is widening and not getting smaller. The imbalance is growing. Worse... it is expected to grow even more in the future. Here's how the disparity has grown over time:

• 1990-1991 - 54% to 46%
• 1995-1996 - 56% to 44%
• 2000-2001 - 58% to 42%
• 2005-2006 - 59% to 41%
• 2010-2011 - 59% to 41% (projected)
• 2015-2016 - 60% to 40% (projected)

It doesn't matter how you break down the degrees either. Currently there is only one category of degrees which breaks the other way. That is expected to change so that in all categories there will be a disparity. In a few years it won't matter if you talk about associate's, bachelor's, master's, first-professional, or doctor's degrees. 

In all categories women will be receiving more degrees then men will.

Does that surprise you? Did you know that women already are getting almost 60% of degrees awarded? Did you expect them to increase this number to 61% by 2019?

It shouldn't surprise you. There has been a lot of work over a long time to improve education and educational opportunities for women. From grade school to high school to higher education women have done better and continue to do better. This work was necessary and useful. The programs and practices put in place have made women more successful than ever in education.

Professor Mark J. Perry plots the numbers and thinks of the ramifications in The Increasing College Degree Gap; Will College Women's Centers Address *This* Gender Issue? If you want to look at the numbers themselves you can find them at the National Center for Education Statistics here. There's even an Excel version of the numbers in case you want to do any analysis yourself.

The question in my mind is what happens now that the imbalance has swung so far the other way? The "equal" point was back in 1981. Since then men have fallen behind. So now what do we do?

Do we stop the successful programs for women? The programs that have tailored education to their requirements and needs? Those programs and policies that have been so successful?

I hope we don't. Improving education for any gender is good for all of us.

Will we as a society be able to apply those lessons and learn how to keep men in school? To lessen the number of dropouts and increase the number of young men who go on to successful higher education?

I'm not looking for a 50-50 balance. I don't want the number of degrees to be limited and mandated. What I'm looking to see is whether even a fraction of the resources and effort that was spent to help women is now spent to help men.

Or maybe... just maybe... we can stop worrying about men vs. women and start applying those resources and efforts to students as a whole. Maybe we should be keeping as many kids in school as long as possible regardless of gender. Maybe we should be trying to increase the overall percentage of kids who get past high school and into higher education.

I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

Games: A Player Who Makes His Teammates Better

Quick... name the most important and valuable player on your local sports team. Now... tell me why he's valuable.

Scores the most points/goals/baskets/touchdowns? Intimidating and a presence on the field/diamond/court/ice?

What if the most valuable player on a team didn't score often and was one of the smallest people in the league? You would't believe it would you?

Believe it. In the NBA Shane Battier is one of the most valuable players on the court. Dollar for dollar he does more for his team than anyone else. Not because he scores or gets great stats. It's because when he's on the court all his teammates perform better. Let me introduce the The No-Stats All-Star.

Shane Battier is an example of what happens when stats and numbers are looked at carefully. Conventional wisdom can be proven wrong. The results may change how the NBA owners, and then owners and managers in other leagues, look at choosing players.

Players like Shane may help win games and championships but they make water cooler conversation much more challenging. Intangibles are harder to discuss.