None up yet.

Web-Related Extra Credit Exercise 1

• The Activity

  LINK to Activity for this exercise.

• The Exercise

1. Were there links on Tran's Home Page originally?

2. How can we explain that there are links now? In 25 words or less.

3. Is mathematics a hot link on Tran's page now?

4. What URL would take you directly to this page without having to go through the Dear HabermasHome Page or even the Statistics Site Home Page?

5. I was surprised that Tran's Page came up on my Yahoo forgiveness search because:

   1. Student's pages don't usually come up on Yahoo searches.

   2. The word "forgiveness" did not show up on his page.

   3. There were no links on his page when it came up on my Yahoo search.

   4. "To forgive is not our policy" is in his title.

   5. All of the above.

E-mail your answers to Jeanne.

Interpretation Extra Credit Exercise 1

1. What does "just the facts" mean?

   1. That people believe that somewhere there do exist objective facts.
   2. That Clinton either had an affair or didn't have an affair.
   3. That if we could just get at "the facts" interpretation would be pretty straight forward.
   4. That "facts" are "facts," and once known, most interpretations would be very similar.
   5. All of the above.

2. How do Mathilda White Riley's assumptions about data measurement and analysis fit the Clinton/Lewinsky situation? HELP, I'M LOST I don't remember Mathilda White Riley.

   1. If we judge by what Lewinsky says, we are assuming that what she says accurately describes what she did.
   2. If we judge by what Clinton says, we are assuming that what he says accurately describes what he did.
   3. If we observed what they did, then we are assuming that we can tell what they meant by those behaviors we observed.
   4. If another (Tripp) observed or was told what they did, we are assuming that Clinton/Lewinsky actually did and/or intended what is being reported to us.
   5. All of the above add up to an inescapable mess.

3. Which of the following behaviors could lend itself to misinterpretation?

   1. A kiss on the cheek
   2. A hug
   3. A tear
   4. A scream
   5. All of the above

4. Why is mass media news reporting open to misinterpretation?

   1. Reporters are biased.
   2. The news, in appealing to the market is driven by what will "sell" best, and does not consider the honesty of interpretation.
   3. Sound bites are too short to manage the requisite complicated expression of different validity claims.
   4. Special interests behind the news control the interpretations given.
   5. All of the above.

5. TV announcers for CBS said tonight that in one poll 70% of the people surveyed said there had been too much coverage of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair.

   1. In 25 words or less interpret that figure as showing that people are interested enough in the affair to watch the news on it.

   2. In 25 words or less interpret that figure as showing that people don't want to watch the affair discussed in the news any more.

   3. If you were a news director for a network station, (in 25 words or less) what measures would you depend on to make the decisions you would now have to make?

E-mail your answer to Jeanne

Basic Skills Extra Credit Exercise 1

1. In what time increments do you most often study?

   1. 15 minutes
   2. 30 minutes
   3. 1 hour
   4. More than one hour at a time

2. In what kind of situation do you usually study?

   1. Absolute quiet
   2. With music
   3. In a generally quiet room
   4. With people (children) about
   5. Wherever I am when I find a moment

3. Do the people in your life generally take your studies as:

   1. Very serious
   2. Important, but not special
   3. About like work; I need to do it, but just to pass
   4. About like play, just something for me to do
   5. They resent it.

4. Tell me, briefly, about your last study session in statistics. Tell me what you think might enable me to help you more than this site is already doing. What scares you? What makes you feel confident? Do you need to clear time to study? Be brief. But if there is a story that will let me understand, tell it to me. Jeanne

E-mail Jeanne.

Basic Skills Extra Credit Exercise 2

These are some of the problems for which I foresee a need for contingency planning.

• Unavoidable absence from lecture
• Unavoidable absence from lab
• Section of the course presents more difficulty than you had expected
• You find that you must function more slowly at the computer than some other students if you are going to be clear about what you are doing
• Someone asks to copy your work when you put in many hours of effort and you suspect that they did not
• You can't find the teacher when you need her
• Others that you can foresee

E-mail your contingency plans to Jeanne.

Basic Skills Extra Credit Exercise 3

1. Which of the following are necessary in order not to harm your computer when you are ready to quit?

   1. Turn off the power.
   2. Minimize all programs.
   3. Save all documents.
   4. Close each program.
   5. Close Windows.
   6. Save to disk.
   7. Virus scan all portable disks.

2. Which of the following happen if you just turn off the computer when you leave?

   1. Files that have been saved in various random spots over your hard disk are left there, taking up valuable memory.
   2. Lights flicker all over the place.
   3. The teacher is sorely annoyed.
   4. Some programs won't open properly if they have not been closed properly before exiting.
   5. It doesn't matter; just go ahead and turn it off.
   6. Only computer gurus know how to turn off computers properly.
   7. ALT F4 exits Windows and CTRL F4 exits programs. You should know these key combinations for the safety of our machines.

E-mail your answers to Jeanne.

Helping Tasks for Extra Credit

1. Explain in 25 words or less why one of the multiple choice answers is wrong. Do this for each multiple choice for that question. That way, we could put up all the answers with a clear explanation of why the one we picked is the best choice. Important for study for exams.

   If you want to do this, e-mail me so I can make sure all the questions are covered.

2. Take the time to sit with someone who has had less computer experience than you have, and be patient enough to let them walk through the steps on their own. That way the learning will really become theirs.

3. E-mail me with contingency plans of your own that could help us all learn together.

   BACK to Statistics Site Home Page.