23 January 2017

A quiz about quotes about statistics

Not a quiz about statistics, mind you, but about literary references to statistics.  Posted because I believe TYWKIWDBI readers like to take tests.  Herewith some "samples" -
1. Which notable statistical figure said the following? “I am fain to sum up an urgent appeal for adopting a uniform system of publishing the statistical records of hospitals. In attempting to arrive at the truth, I have applied everywhere for information, but scarcely have I been able to obtain hospital records fit for any purpose of comparison.”

2. Name the eponymous hero of a children’s book who said: “Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them you have made a new friend, they never ask you about essential matters. They never ask you, ‘What games does he love best?’ … Instead they demand, ‘How old is he? How much money does his father make?’ Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.”

3. Name the children’s book containing this exchange: “Pardon me for staring,” said Milo, after he had been staring for some time, “but I’ve never seen half a child before.” “It’s .58 to be precise,” replied the child from the left side of his mouth (which happened to be the only side of his mouth). “What is the rest of your family like?” said Milo, this time a bit more sympathetically. “Oh, we’re just the average family,” he said thoughtfully; “mother, father and 2.58 children – and, as I explained, I’m the .58.”

4. Which famous character, who first appeared in print in 1887, said: “Data! Data! Data! I cannot make bricks without clay.”?

5. The following quote describes the most evil mathematician in history. Can you name him? “He is endowed with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of 21 he wrote a treatise upon the binomial theorem. He won a mathematical chair at one of our smaller universities. … But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind.”
The full quiz (18 more questions) is at the website of the Royal Statistical Society, with a link there to the answers.   And today they posted the answers to the Christmas Quiz.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...