Discussion A – Week 4

COLLAPSE

Dealing With Data

Discussion A (Required for all students)

Review the assigned pages in Gladwell’s Outliers as well as the articles on statistics. Consider how statistical data were used in the examples in the Learning Resources.

Identify two examples in the Learning Resources and explain how statistics were used in each example. State whether statistics were used effectively in each example, and explain why. Finally, explain a strategy you could use to ensure the data you collect and interpret is done in a reliable manner.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to Discussion Question A.

Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this week’s Learning Resources.

Additionally, you may optto include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.

By Day 5

Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleague’s post about the question you did not select. Respond in one of the following ways:

• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting.

Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.

Qualitative and quantitative data is often used together to get a holistic picture of the study subject. Since both require different vantage points the way they are studied needs different approaches, different processes and different data gathering protocols. The question is asked, “what types of information do we need to understand the subject matter and solve the problem?’ 

Discussion B (Select B or C)

Chapter one in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers provides a simple statistical analysis of birthdates of hockey players. Adding a similar assessment of soccer players, he then draws conclusions about the system that shaped these sportsmen. Post an evaluation of Gladwell’s use of quantitative data by explaining whether he collected and interpreted his data in a reliable manner. Provide support for your position.

By Day 3

Post a minimum of 100 words to your choice of Discussion Question B.

Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this unit’s Learning Resources.

Additionally, you may optto include an academic resource you have identified or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.
By Day 5
Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues. One must be a response to a colleague’s post about the question you did not select. Respond in one of the following ways:
Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Expand on your colleague’s posting.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.

Research is about gathering information and categorizing it. Anytime you make categories, you then force people to “fit” within those artificial divisions in order to meet the needs of the organization. Exceptions to the categories should be built in to be most effective. Time constraints, lack of funding and a scarcity of organizational resources means that individuals are forced to adapt to the categories. In the case of the hockey players you add the bias of size and coordination that is then multiplied by the individual attention of the coaches and the increased play of the traveling teams and the performance gap widens. the irony is that this is all seen as normal and a sign of the individual differences in the players not a systematic bias.