Learning about a topic (any topic)

Statistics on its own is a very dull field of study. However, statistics really shines when it is applied to different fields of study. Statistics is just as useful to sports as it is to technology, as applicable to medicine as it is to sociology, and much more. In just the past few exercises, you have looked into such topics as weather, fuel consumption, and Hobbits.

Part of the joy of stats is that you get to delve into a myriad of topics to help you gain a better understanding of the data you'll be analyzing. Before rushing straight to your bag of statistical tools, research the topic a bit.

Learning about rowing

I mentioned that this and the following exercises deal with the sport of rowing. It's time to learn about the sport before we bother ourselves with analyzing any data.

1. Search online for the word "rowing". Click the first link. It's probably Wikipedia. Skim the article (don't read it yet).
2. Returning to the search results page, click two more links that look interesting and skim those.
3. Search for images associated with "rowing" and look at a few.

See any words that don't make sense? Search for the meanings of those words.

For what should you be looking? You're looking for a general understanding of the sport, its origins, its current popularity, what the equipment looks like, what sorts of people enjoy rowing, and anything that you stumble upon that sticks in your mind.

Go back to the pages that look the most interesting and read those. Repeat this for at least 6 minutes. Set a timer if you have to. Don't distract yourself by checking your email or anything like that. Focus. I'll wait.

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Welcome back from your brief sojourn. While you're not yet an expert on rowing, you're at least less ignorant of the sport.

The procedure you just followed is what researchers everywhere do. Search for a word or phrase. Read stuff about it. Look at illustrations. Uncover something else you don't understand. Repeat.

In the next exercise you'll plot a chart from rowing data.

Study Drills

• Look up what the coxswain's job is.
• How do you pronounce coxswain?

Challenge

Pick a topic that you want to learn more about. It can be as focused or broad as you please. It can be related to statistics or not. For example, learning more about "Communist themes in My Little Pony" is as fine as choosing "horses".

Your task is to research enough that you can convey your topic to any random six year old kid. Avoid using fancy words, instead opting to convey via analogy the main points of your topic. Write and doodle your explanation on a single side of one sheet of paper.

Using your notes as a reference, communicate your topic to a friend, kid, or co-worker. Did (s)he become more educated or more confused after listening to you?

This task often appears simple on its surface but can be tricky in practice. It is challenging to comprehend enough to convey a complex topic in elementary terms. This is what great statisticians, scientists, and artists (etc.) can and should do.