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Sept 30: Statistics in Practice

Posted inWeekly Brief

Statistics in Practice

In our Briefing this week, we take a look at the role of statistics and analytics in war, from WWII to the present. Our curriculum spotlight is on our Rasch and IRT Mastery – key skills for those involved in designing, developing, and analyzing tests and surveys.  You can start with

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Peter Bruce

Founder, Author, and Senior Scientist

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Statistics at War

World War 2 gave the statistics profession its big growth spurt. The experience of George Box (“All models are wrong, some are useful”) was typical. He was working as a chemist in a sewer plant when war broke out, and […]

Historical Spotlight

John Tukey

The statistician John Tukey is regarded by some as the father, or at least one of the fathers, of data science.  Before Tukey, statistics meant inference (p-values, ANOVA, etc.) and models. Tukey brought to the discipline […]

Curriculum Spotlight

Rasch and IRT Mastery

If you are involved in designing, developing, and analyzing tests and surveys, you know that you need to do much more than simply tally results. For example, tests need to be designed with an understanding of a limited number of “latent” attributes each of which might be addressed by multiple questions.  Also, multiple tests aimed at the same goal (e.g. having different versions for security) need to be equivalent. This Mastery addresses the subject with 3 courses: one in Item Response Theory (IRT), and your choice of two in Rasch Measurement. You can start with:

You will learn how to:

  • Describe basic test and Rasch measurement concepts
  • Conduct simple dichotomous analysis
  • Describe and fit the Rasch-Andrich rating scale model
  • Account for partial credit
  • Develop designs simple test linking and equating

Your instructor is Dr. Everett V. Smith Jr., Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Smith is responsible for the development of the Ph.D. specialization and M.Ed. programs in Measurement Evaluation Statistics and Assessment (MESA); the online M.Ed. in MESA program; and the online Educational Research Methodology certificate program at UIC. Dr. Smith specializes in psychometrics, specifically Rasch measurement. His research interests and expertise include test and rating scale design and analysis for the measurement of latent constructs, testing model robustness, and, in general, applications of Rasch measurement.

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This Mastery could be used in the Social Science Certificate Program (below).

Certificate Spotlight

Social Science Statistics Certificate Program

Our Social Science Statistics Certificate provides the skills necessary to gather, analyze, and assess data for activities like making policy decisions, answering cultural questions, studying behavioral changes, and informing business decisions. This ten (10) course program – including six required courses and four electives – cover the principal statistical concepts used to design, sample, collect, interpret, and present data as it applies to behaviors of groups of people in their environment and special situations.

The core curriculum, taught by leading experts in this industry, covers everything from categorical data analysis, designing valid statistical studies to regression analysis and advanced statistics. The program also includes a comprehensive exploration of survey design, sample size determination, and related processes and mixes theory and practical application so you can apply your skills immediately at your current job or leverage them as you seek a new one.

At the completion of the Social Science Statistics Certificate Program you will have learned:

  • The design and analysis principles for research studies
  • The fundamental concepts behind statistical modeling
  • How to fit linear and logistic regression models, interpret output, and conduct diagnostics
  • Appropriate designs and sampling plans for surveys
  • How to determine sample size for a study, and how to calculate power
  • Techniques for analyzing categorical data (electives)
  • Bayesian methods for analyzing data (electives)

Need to brush up on your stats? Enrollees in the certificate program can take our intro stats course, offered monthly, at no charge. We offer rolling admissions year-round so you can start right away.

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