Prioritize thinking before diving into data analysis by taking a moment to understand the problem and what needs to be accomplished. Encouraging students to pause and reflect on their objectives before engaging with data enables a deeper understanding and more meaningful insights.
There's often a gap between the textbook treatment of statistics and the cookbook treatment--how to cook up the numbers when you're in the kitchen of the real world. Jeremy Weber of the University of Pittsburgh and the author of Statistics for Public Policy hopes his book can close that gap. He talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how to use numbers thoughtfully and honestly.