What Is/Are Statistics? Dr. Carol T. Benson, PhD Retired from EYH and ISU

A little bit about me.  As a little girl,  I liked to read,  play with dolls,  follow my big brothers around,  Play jacks and other games, etc.

My Family  Education  Father completed HS with family support  Mother dropped out at end of sophomore year  Both brothers trained in Navy – electronics / computers

About me  My education  Libertyville HS  Illinois State U (BA in ED, Math and French  Illinois State U (MS in Math Ed)  Moves and family  Illinois State U (DA, PhD)

Still about me  Extra Activities  HS clubs – Latin, French, Honor Soc., Math, Library  Worked at Glass Shop  Worked at Public Library  Not good at sports  Boyfriends (one at a time)

Soulmate  I met a wonderful man as a senior in college.  We married the next year.  My life changed.  ISU for Masters  I taught at ISU for 1 year.  Moved to Minnesota, then Iowa for his career.

My Family  Became wife  Became mother  Four children in 4 years!  John, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Catherine.  I got to stay home with them for15 years!  Read to them  Took them to lessons, etc.

Work and opportunities  Research  Gender equity in math  Use of technology college level  Student reasoning in probability using models for elementary school

Work and opportunities  Teaching and Mentoring  High school math teacher  University math, education, technology teacher  Academic advisor  EYH conference director  Mentor to student teachers

What IS Statistics?  a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data (free Webster online dictionary)  Often used to DESCRIBE something that can be measured or counted (mean,…)  Also often used to PREDICT based upon data sampled from a population

What ARE Statistics?  Statistics are numbers that can be computed from sample data without making use of any unknown parameters. (The Practice of Statistics by Yates et al.)  A parameter is a number that describes the population.

What we do with Statistics  Often, we don’t collect information about the entire population because it would be too costly, time consuming, and maybe even impossible.  We take a sample, compute a statistic, then use that information and some assumptions to predict what the population would be like.

Global Pay by Gender  Gender pay gaps persist around the world, including in the United States. According to public information collected by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the global gender pay gap ranges from 3 percent to 51 percent with a global average of 17 percent (ITUC 2009).

Gender and Work  Women’s participation in the U.S. labor force climbed during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching 60 percent in However, in 2010 this figure has declined to 46.7 percent and is not expected to increase by 2018 (DOL 2011).

Gender and Power  In terms of women in leadership positions, in 2009 only 24 percent of CEOs in the US were women and they earned 74.5 percent as much as male CEOs (BLS 2010 p.9).

Education graph

Texting  Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. (PI)  15% of teens who are texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month. (PI)  Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day. (PI)

Cell Phones  The global youth mobile market is worth $360 billion annually – 10x the size of the global recorded music industry (MY)  62% of all youth handset purchase decisions are influenced by peers not advertising (MY)  By 2012, one in five of the world’s mobile phone owning youth will be living in India (MY)

Teens with smart phones  __% use their phones to take pictures.  __% share pictures with others.  __% play music on their phones.  __% play games on their phones.  __% exchange videos on their phones.

Teens with smart phones  83% use their phones to take pictures.  64% share pictures with others.  60% play music on their phones.  46% play games on their phones.  32% exchange videos on their phones.

What are the numbers?  __% exchange instant messages on their phones.  __% go online for general purposes on their phones.  __% access social network sites on their phones.  __% use on their phones.  __% purchase things via their phones.

The numbers.  31% exchange instant messages on their phones.  27% go online for general purposes on their phones.  23% access social network sites on their phones.  21% use on their phones.  11% purchase things via their phones.

Wireless phone ownership

Computers  Nearly seven in ten (69%) teens ages have a computer (PI)  Nearly four in five teens (79%) have an iPod or other mp3 player (PI)  80% of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 have a game console like a Wii, an Xbox or a PlayStation. (PI)

Technology use - %?  __% would look up a store after learning their friend had checked in. (Mr Y)  __% have liked more than 20 brands on Facebook. (Mr Y)  __% report researching the next model for their current product, immediately after making a purchase (Mr Y)  __% report having liked a brand on Facebook just to receive an offer (Mr Y)

Technology use  66% would look up a store after learning their friend had checked in. (Mr Y)  43% have liked more than 20 brands on Facebook. (Mr Y)  65% report researching the next model for their current product, immediately after making a purchase (Mr Y)  71% report having liked a brand on Facebook just to receive an offer (Mr Y)

Our own data collection  How many children are in your family? # kid s # you

What about us?  What is your question that can be answered with a number?  Ask at least 10 people.  Write your question and the number of times you got each response.  Hand in your results as you leave.  We’ll post results on our web site.