Quantitude

In this In the Wild episode, Patrick and Greg conclude their unexpected cluster of college-themed conversations by turning their Quantitude loose on the ultimate question: is college worth it. In particular, they discuss how the multi-layered, individualized, and ever-changing nature of a college education make this question especially tricky to answer. 

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick have a wonderful time talking about qualitative research methods with Emily Namey. Emily has dedicated her entire career to qualitative research and she helps them better understand what it is, what it can do, and how it plays a critical role in understanding the complexities of human behavior. Along the way they also discuss rushing to and from LA, human heads, social props, gold stars, cut stories, hula dancing, PBS and National Geographic, a sad Italian, surfer dudes, middle managers, dead grandmothers, have skills-will travel, the Montagues and the Capulets, and being...

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick follow-up their previous discussion of time-varying covariates with a conversation about methods for modeling the simultaneous development in two or more constructs over time. Along the way, they also discuss back tattoos, right lane closures, 49.5 lb luggage, Clear, the United lounge, Sharpies, Neo, the Urfdedurfdedingerdonger, living with mommy or daddy, Hairballs of Science, selfish bastards, Lick‘em Señor, phantom variable road trip, The Trouble with Tribbles, achieving our ideal rank, and apologies to the Dutch.

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode, Greg and Patrick have great fun talking about the inclusion of time-varying covariates within growth models. They differentiate time invariant from time varying predictors, explore how these are differentially incorporated in the MLM and SEM, and conclude with both the strengths and the limitations of these models in practice. Along the way they also discuss Herb Alpert, incessant complaining, downtown Charlotte, Spinal Tap drummers, back dating checks, John Stuart Mills' corpse, time machines, blind squirrels, making good choices, pokes and prods, twitching eyes, mutually assured destruction, being quant curious, high school hallways, it's not fair...

In this week's episode, Greg and Patrick magically find themselves at trivia night in the Rusty Mackerel pub in Teelin, Ireland, where a secret celebrity trivia master puts them on the spot to test their knowledge of statistics and statisticians. Along the way they also discuss St. Paprikash, no back story, Hooker Oklahoma, The Karate Kid 2 soundtrack, the fourth wall, magically delicious, tau or taw, taco inception, Ted 2, the ESPN curse, 4.1% alcohol, lightning rounds, doohickeys, never Belgium, and The Rev. 

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg talk with Ken Bollen who is a Professor of Psychology and Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to exploring topics including home made rockets, sitars, and Jimi Hendrix, Ken talks with them about his brand new book Elements of Structural Equation Models and how he aspired to capture the many recent developments in SEM that have occurred since his monumental 1989 book on the same topic. Along the way they also discuss brushes with greatness, naughty bits, Mick Jagger, sharing a urinal, marginal notes, stranded in Brussels...

In this week's episode, Greg and Patrick discuss the decades-old method of the regression discontinuity design and describe how, when properly applied, this approach can strengthen our causal inferences when using quasi-experimental data. Along the way they also discuss Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor, playing barefoot darts, gaming the system, I see dead people, Googling age cut-offs, Van Halen's "Jump", Zoom calls in class, senior discount day, pivots, building saddles, biggest guy in the bar, grunting tennis players, refusing a raise, when the cops show up, and the ninth step.

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this In the Wild episode, Greg and Patrick turn their Quantitude loose on college rankings. In particular, they discuss whether these rankings are of use to anyone at all, and what issues we would need to have addressed in order for us to be able to answer that question. 

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick talk, for the third time, about power analysis, drawing on a recent paper by Greg and Yi Feng at UCLA, that reminds us how little we actually know when sample size planning, and then offers a concrete, cautious strategy for planning in the face of that uncertainty. Along the way they also mention Punxsutawney Phil, acknowledgments, bold ass titles, dark matter, driving angry, crystal balls, Ned Ryerson, shock absorbers, King Henry IV, yard sales and haggling, hurricane insurance in Denver, and perineums and  pessimums. 

Stay in contact with Quantitude!...

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg explore the incredibly cool possibilities offered by the time-varying effects model as a non-parametric alternative to the more restrictive time-varying covariate model. Along the way they also mention North Dakota, Cal Ripken Jr., pre-gaming, not trying to be funny, left lane guy, Walker Texas Ranger, smelling toast, Bob Ross, hearing sirens, muu-muus, petulant teenagers, two old men, boing boing boing, greedy bastards, hostage negotiations, going off the rails, and being made whole.

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

This week's episode is the seventh annual Quantitude Holiday Special, but because Greg and Patrick both forgot to get each other something, they frantically regift one another some of their favorite sponsors from prior episodes. Along the way they also discuss Quantitude Studio A, two foot tall porcelain penguins, electric bug zappers, personalized cutting boards, balls dropping, Sir Francis Galton, Brad Pitt, the two people who actually listen to a full episode, Christmas Eve, Muffin the kitten, Alan Rickman, Mr. Riclpm, Top Gun, and an Easter egg from Jiffy.

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this In The Wild episode, Patrick and Greg turn their Quantitude loose on college admission essays, in particular whether or not they should be used to make such high-stakes decisions, and they discuss what issues would need to be addressed in order to answer that question.

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg have fun exploring the questionably valid but always high stakes role of the grade point average, of GPA. They consider the different ways in which grades can be assigned, what they may or may not actually represent, and how they have become increasingly inflated over time. Along the way, they also discuss not being agnostic, math vs. sociology, avoiding homework, eye patches, participation credit, revenge committee assignments, trust falls, bad dermatologists, meeting expectations, Trojan horse questions, failing law school, picking your battles, GPA as rolling D&D dice, and holding forth. 

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg talk about latent transition analysis, which embeds latent class analysis within a longitudinal context, allowing us to explore, as well as to formally test, patterns of individual change in latent class membership over time. Along the way they also mention: identity crises, the crossword puzzler, the nihilist, here comes the asteroid, deck chairs and floating doors, grizzled 25-year-olds, burying the lede, victory yells, Pepsi vs. Coke, magic wiping cloths, and lining up to slap Greg.

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick discuss the amazing world of the empirical bootstrap. They start with inferential testing using business as usual, describe where that quickly runs into problems, and explore where bootstrapping does and, importantly, does not help move us forward. Along the way they also discuss midnight in Bangkok, the awe of a 747, the Wright Brothers, what's your point, sampling a crappy sample, indulging neurons, Guinness beer, just go faster, what does Tukey know, kids these days, sticking to the story, the symmetric horse, Greenday and Coors Light, everything is awesome, petulant teenagers, and maybe...

In this In The Wild episode, Greg and Patrick turn their Quantitude loose on the ever-present SAT, in particular the premise that it is biased and should be banned. They also talk about what issues would need to be addressed in order to evaluate whether or not that's a reasonable claim. 

Stay in contact with Quantitude!

In this week's episode, Patrick and Greg have a lovely conversation with Jeremy Miles, a quantitative methodologist who has worked in both academic and industry settings. Jeremy draws on his own extensive experiences to describe what an industry job is like and how one can prepare to move into this type of position. Along the way they also discuss sub-conning expertise, mystery companies, Americans’ mispronunciations, Quantitude International, avoiding math, statistics vs. biostatistics, fighter pilots with Ph.D.s, Eau Rouge, game rooms, 99% missing data, being correct-ish, harumphs, pay cuts, Kai Ryssdal, and Lewis Hamilton vs. George Russell. 

S...