Sunday data/statistics link roundup (4/14/2013)

Jeff Leek
2013-04-14
  1. The most influential data scientists on Twitter, featuring Amy Heineike, Hilary Mason, and a few other familiar names to readers of this blog. In other news, I love reading list of the “Top K _____” as much as the next person. I love them even more when they are quantitative (the list above isn’t) - even when the quantification is totally bogus. (via John M.)
  2. Rod Little and our own Tom Louis over at the Huffingtonpost talking about the ways in which the U.S. Census supports our democracy. It is a very good piece and I think highlights the critical importance that statistics and data play in keeping government open and honest.
  3. An article about the growing number of fake academic journals and their potential predatory practices. I think I’ve been able to filter out the fake journals/conferences pretty well (if they’ve invited 30 Nobel Laureates - probably fake). But this poses big societal problems; how do we tell what is real science from what is fake if you don’t have inside knowledge about which journals are real? (via John H.)
  4. [ 1. The most influential data scientists on Twitter, featuring Amy Heineike, Hilary Mason, and a few other familiar names to readers of this blog. In other news, I love reading list of the “Top K _____” as much as the next person. I love them even more when they are quantitative (the list above isn’t) - even when the quantification is totally bogus. (via John M.)
  5. Rod Little and our own Tom Louis over at the Huffingtonpost talking about the ways in which the U.S. Census supports our democracy. It is a very good piece and I think highlights the critical importance that statistics and data play in keeping government open and honest.
  6. An article about the growing number of fake academic journals and their potential predatory practices. I think I’ve been able to filter out the fake journals/conferences pretty well (if they’ve invited 30 Nobel Laureates - probably fake). But this poses big societal problems; how do we tell what is real science from what is fake if you don’t have inside knowledge about which journals are real? (via John H.) 4.](https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/trip-history-data) on the DC Capitol Bikeshare. One of my favorite things is when a government organization just opens up its data. The best part is that the files are formatted as csv’s. Clearly someone who knows that the best data formats are open, free, and easy to read into statistical software. In other news, I think one of the most important classes that could be taught is “How to share data 101” (via David B.)
  7. A slightly belated link to a remembrance of George Box. He was the one who said, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.”  An absolute titan of our field.
  8. Check out these cool logotypes for famous scientists. I want one! Also, see the article on these awesome minimalist posters celebrating legendary women in science. I want the Sally Ride poster on a t-shirt.
  9. As an advisor, I aspire to treat my students/postdocs like this. ([@hunterwalk](https://twitter.com/hunterwalk)). I’m not always so good at it, but those are some good ideals to try to live up to.