Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    sales and data analytics
    How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
    9 Min Read
    data analytics and truck accident claims
    How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
    7 Min Read
    predictive analytics for interior designers
    Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
    8 Min Read
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The Mythbusters and Statistics
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > The Mythbusters and Statistics
Uncategorized

The Mythbusters and Statistics

DavidMSmith
DavidMSmith
5 Min Read
SHARE

I love the TV show “Mythbusters.” If you’ve never seen the show, it’s great. (A new season starts this week on the Discovery Channel in the US.) Every week, the team describes one or more myths or urban legends (example: a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could kill a pedestrian), and then they attempt to confirm or “bust” the myth with experimentation. (Wind tunnel experiments showed that the terminal velocity of a penny isn’t fast enough to seriously injure someone.)

One thing that has mildly bugged me about the show is the lack of replication in the experiments: typically, they only ever attempt to replicate the myth once or maybe twice, and rarely discuss the variability in their measurements. So I was pleased to see the issue come up in this New Scientist interview:

You often have sample sizes of one or two, but science is all about replication. How do you respond to that criticism?

JH: People simply wouldn’t watch it if we were just repeating things over and over again. We do them as compactly as we can to keep up the energy level and flow. We intend these shows to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

AS: I think the part of the scientific enterprise …

More Read

Software Patents: A Personal Story
#1: Here’s a thought…
Why Culture Is the Biggest Barrier to SecDevOps
A new site for the R community: inside-R.org
R in the NYTimes… [1]

I love the TV show “Mythbusters.” If you’ve never seen the show, it’s great. (A new season starts this week on the Discovery Channel in the US.) Every week, the team describes one or more myths or urban legends (example: a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could kill a pedestrian), and then they attempt to confirm or “bust” the myth with experimentation. (Wind tunnel experiments showed that the terminal velocity of a penny isn’t fast enough to seriously injure someone.)

One thing that has mildly bugged me about the show is the lack of replication in the experiments: typically, they only ever attempt to replicate the myth once or maybe twice, and rarely discuss the variability in their measurements. So I was pleased to see the issue come up in this New Scientist interview:

You often have sample sizes of one or two, but science is all about replication. How do you respond to that criticism?

JH: People simply wouldn’t watch it if we were just repeating things over and over again. We do them as compactly as we can to keep up the energy level and flow. We intend these shows to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

AS: I think the part of the scientific enterprise that we do illuminate is that it’s a messy, creative process that changes your whole understanding. We’ll spend half an episode finding that we’re asking the wrong question.

A fair response. I think in general they’re aware of the variability and significance issues, but I agree that more important contribution of the show is the experimental process: encouraging kids in particular to actually measure and compare things to answer questions. Issues like controls, replication, and significance are moot without data, after all. (Co-host Adam Savage talks more about the effect of the show on kids in this video interview from reason.com. Heartwarming stuff.)  

I was also pleased to see that they do seek the input of statisticians from time to time, too:

When you are testing your own reactions, might you bias your results because you have expectations about the outcome?

AS:
That’s a good point and makes me think that we should demonstrate
experimental bias on the show. It was an issue when we investigated
“beer goggles”: whether drinking alcohol can make people seem more
attractive. I spent a long time with a friend of mine who’s a
statistician to try and remove as much of the bias as possible.

New Scientist: MythBusters: ‘Using your head is a lot of fun’ 

Link to original post

Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

sales and data analytics
How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
Analytics Big Data Exclusive
ai in marketing
How AI and Smart Platforms Improve Email Marketing
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive Marketing
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive
AI supply chain
AI Tools Are Strengthening Global Supply Chains
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

Poor Data Quality is a Virus

8 Min Read

Who Invented Attention Economics?

2 Min Read

The Future of the Grid: From Telecommunications to Cloud-Based Servers

3 Min Read

Jeremy Blogged in Class Today!

2 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

ai is improving the safety of cars
From Bolts to Bots: How AI Is Fortifying the Automotive Industry
Artificial Intelligence
ai chatbot
The Art of Conversation: Enhancing Chatbots with Advanced AI Prompts
Chatbots

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?