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Friday, March 26, 2010

Blog Entry #7

Peters, S.A. (2010). Engaging with the art and science of statistics. Mathematics Teacher, 103(7), 496-503.

In the article, "Engaging With the Art and Science of Statistics," Susan A. Peter's main idea was to define what field of study the practice of statistics fit into. In her discussion, and as inferred by the title, she claimed that statistics does not merely use mathematics and science, but that it is an art as well. She mentioned that statistics involves mathematical techniques and theories that help to collect and analyze data. This would be evidence that it is a mathematical science. However, she also talked about how creating graphs and displays for the data that is collected requires an artul touch in order to represent what was found accurately.

Statistics definitely involves both mathematical and artistic techniques, however I do not believe that this singles out statistics from any other math field. All math concepts involve some sort of art procedure whether it be in graphs, pictures, story problems, etc. Therefore, while I agree with her argument that statistics is an artisic, mathematical science, I do not think that makes it unique from the other math fields.

6 comments:

  1. Personally I think that statistics is a very concrete mathematical art and that although it has its differences, it isn't significantly distinguishable from the art of math.
    I think your blog entry was short, brief and to the point. however, some of the sentences are maybe a bit wordy. I couldnt quite follow the second sentence because it seemed to not flow too well. you said that the author claims that statistics is not merely math and science, but is an art as well? maybe alittle revision here.
    But other than that I think you had great ideas and summarized your article well. thanks!

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  2. Your first paragraph was clear and had a logical flow. There also was a very nice professional tone. I would add more support of the main point.
    Perhaps by explaining in more detail how the author found statistics to be artful.

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  3. I think that this is very interesting - I had never considered defining statistics as an art form. However, I do think that the author's argument, as outlined nicely by you in the first paragraph, lacks any points that are actually convincing. After all, art is not merely finding new and better ways to accurately represent something. I agree with your analysis that much of mathematics could be classed this way. I also think that you began really well with a clear topic sentence.Well Done!

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  4. I thought you did a good job of staying on topic and keeping things clear. I thought it was professional and proofread. From your summary of the article I agree with your opinion on the article. So my interest level on reading this article is very low. Was it a boring article?

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  5. Good job summarizing and using topic sentences. You kept your paragraphs focused.

    From reading your summary, I didn't get the impression that the author was saying other fields of mathematics weren't art. It seemed that she was merely arguing that statistics involved art. Was the author saying anything about other fields of math?

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  6. I think it is interesting you disagreed with the author's main point. I too think one math is not more artistic then another. Good job summarizing!

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