Truth or Truthiness: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist

Posted on 04 July 2018 by Howard Wainer

Teacher tenure is a problem Teacher tenure is a solution Fracking is safe Fracking causes earthquakes Our kids are over tested Our kids are not tested enough We read claims like these in the newspaper every day, often with no justification other than it feels right How can we figure out what is right Escaping from the clutches of truthiness begins with one simple question what is the evidence With his usual verve and flair, Howard Wainer shows how the sceptical mind set of a data scientist can expose truthiness, nonsense, and outright deception Using the tools of causal inference he evaluates the evidence, or lack thereof, supporting claims in many fields, with special emphasis in education This wise book is a must read for anyone who has ever wanted to challenge the pronouncements of authority figures and a lucid and captivating narrative that entertains and educates at the same time. Free Download Truth or Truthiness: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist [ Author ] Howard Wainer [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr There are three kinds of lies lies, damned lies, and statistics Attributed to Benjamin Disraeli Truth or Truthiness Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist by Howard Wainer is a study of the information and how it is used in modern society Wainer is an American statistician, past Principal Research Scientist at the Educational Testing Service, adjunct Professor of Statistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.We are bombarded withThere are three kinds of lies lies, damned lies, and statistics Attributed to Benjamin Disraeli Truth or Truthiness Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Thi...This is not a book most will like Without the correct priming Wainer can be difficult to understand I read this as a supplement in a doctoral program to better understand how to think through problems from the angle of a statistician and researcher Snooze fest sentence I know but don t let me lose you We would regularly discuss Wainer and the studies he proposed Even though brilliant, he packs in too much information for a casual read thru Because of this, each chapter needs to be slo...This book is terrible and the few entry level good points it has are overwhelmed by the idiocy I struggled almost halfway through it and then came across this image, their example of their own clear representa...Wainer s stated purpose in writing this book is to help his readers develop habits of mind that allow them to distinguish truth from things that feel right but actually aren t truthiness His annotated table of contents is very clear and well organized, and he makes some very good points He walks us through what kinds of experiments would be necessary to prove certain claims, talks about what we should then do if those experiments aren t possible they often aren t , and concludes with some Wainer s stated purpose in writing this book is to help his readers develop habits of mind that allow them to distinguish truth from things that feel right but actually aren t truthiness His annotated table of contents is very clear and well organized, and he makes some very good points He walks us through what kinds of exp...Truth or Truthiness is about how to design better causal studies and better graphs It s mainly targeted at people working in education who can influence policies about testing, tenure, and such It s written in a very formal way and uses technical language The author assumed the reader already knew what a longitudinal study and cross sectional study are, for example, and that you understand words like ancillary information, covariates, and legerdemai...The book is a sort of mash up of epistemology, statistics, and general musings I thought early on, it was going to betightly focussed on truth versus truthiness, then I thought it was going to be on the Don Rubin causal model, then I thought it was a manifesto for modern data science It was a bit looser than this, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.The author has a particular interest in education, and this informs many but not all the examples.If there were themes tying this together, The book is a sort of mash up of epistemology, statistics, and general musings I thought early on, it was going to betightly focussed on truth versus truthiness, then I thought it was going to be on the Don Rubin causal model, then I thought it was a manifesto for modern data science It was a bit looser than this, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.The author has a particular interest in education, and this informs many but not all the examples.If there were themes tying this together, other than an epistemological bent to his statistics, it is the idea of always starting with an idealised experiment, then working back to reality, and a focus on clear thinking and communication I even had that deceptive sense of understanding the counter factual while I was reading the book, although sadly that passed.This isn t bland The author s voice comes through clearly He has a great knack for quotes and tur...Parts of this book were great loved the part on fracking and some of the pieces about education in general Really clarified a few things with some nice visualizations and talks about data I think where this didn t do well with me is that it was always flirting with gettingdetailed but never quite going there, didn t quite hit with clarity and focus regarding truly thinking like a data scientist, and the writing style was a bit parse heavy Overall I think this is a decent quick look at Parts of this book were great loved the part on fracking and some of the pieces about education in general Really clarified a few things with some nice visualizations and talks about data I think wh...The author put in a very straightforward way some of the main key point every data scientist needs to be aware of How to disentangle correlation from causation, spotting third variables that can influence our conclusions and so on I really enjoyed reading it I totally a...Tough sledding at times, and the author can t help but get unnecessary jabs in at conservative politicians, but there s some interesting and useful stuff in here.

Truth or Truthiness: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist

English
04 July 2018

Howard Wainer