Re: why is probability and statistics a hard subject?

On 8 Nov, 23:32, Richard Ulrich <Rich.Ulr...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 23:11:14 -0800, "Nasser Abbasi" <n...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I am taking a course in probability and statistics now. It is at the level
of upper division / first year graduate.

This is the hardest course I have ever taken so far, Yet, I am not sure why
it is hard.

Looking at the math on its own, it is hard, but manageable, upper level
calculus I would say. But for some reason, I find the whole subject hard to
do well at.

May be it requires more experience? more insight? more problem solving
practice? I do not think it is the math skills which is the problem, I think
there is something inherently hard about solving problems in probability and
statistics, which is hard for me to pint point.

Like some other repliers, I suspect that your teacher is not
a thoroughly "good statistician", or you would not feel this way.

One of the basics is to learn the vocabulary. Are you paying
close attention to definitions?

For a different sort of introduction to the "problem solving,"
maybe you could take a look at S. Siegel's 1956 book on
Nonparametric Statistics. (After 30 years, a newer edition
came out, with a co-author; but you don't need the newer
version for this exercise). The book does not touch the calculus
part, I think. It is organized as a "cookbook" of problems
with so-many groups; and dichotomous or ranked data,
which may or may not be "matched data."

It will introduce you to much vocabulary, and might provide
a substantial framework.

Another suggestion, for figuring out "what's it all about" - find
SM Stigler's books on the history of statistics, like "History of
Statistics. The measurement of uncertainty before 1900."



I was wondering if others have felt the same way about this subject. And if
you have, did it become easy for you later on? and how did this happen?

I know that I was interested in research results before I ever
learned much statistics. So, what I was learning seemed useful.

I also discovered, along the way, that when I could not follow
a particular textbook, it might help a LOT to find a similar book
(same shelf in the library) and browse it, for an alternate
introduction.

If you don't know how these results are ever used, it might
also be helpful to find a book like "Readings in Statistics in XXX",
for whatever XXX is your field.

--
Rich Ulrich, wpi...@xxxxxxxxxxxx://www.pitt.edu/~wpilib/index.html

This is excellent advice for any course in science or engineering.
Different texts use different words and sometimes simply reading
something presented two different ways allows it to sink in. Plus
part of learning is repetition. Read something in three books and you
have to read it and think about it three times. When I was a student
I noticed the more sources I read on a topic the more I learned about
and understood the topic. I have also noticed, with age, that when I
used multiple sources the stuff stuck with me whereas when I used only
one source because the concepts were so simple they did not stick
nearly as well. After all, if muliple sources were not important why
would we even need teachers? Just reading the book would be
adequate. It is clear teachers do more then simply set the pace. I
have also noticed you can skip the teacher nicely providing you use
multiple books. Some books and some teachers simply do not click with
some students. The only solution is to find other books. I will also
grant that some people have a wiring problem in their brain that makes
some subjects very, very hard. The solution to that problem is to
find a different major that does not need the impossible subject and
is compatible with the wiring.

.

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