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I'd like to propose a change to 'Proposed Q&A site for statistics, data analysis and data mining'. It sounds a bit trivial, but the name as it stand implies that only people who do only statistics for a living should use the site. There are people in many other professions who might have a lot to contribute to the site, but be put off if they feel like it is just for people where statistics is their profession rather than part of their profession. – Ian Turner May 27 '10 at 20:57

Statistics is not a subset of mathematics. It uses some mathematics, but so does physics, engineering, etc. Try asking any of these questions on MO and they will (rightly) be closed as off topic. – Rob Hyndman May 27 '10 at 23:40

I've modified the subheading to take account of the comments being made. Let me know if you think this is better (perhaps vote up this comment). I'm still not sure what to do with the major heading. I understand the objections, but haven't come up with anything better yet. Feel free to make some suggestions in the comments. – Rob Hyndman Jun 1 '10 at 3:55

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113 Example Questions (12 closed)

active newest votes

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added by Scott Wales Jun 2 '10 at 1:44

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added by csgillespie Jun 2 '10 at 9:44

It would be fine, I think, if the purpose of the comparison and type of model would have been specific. This question is too general. – Pedro J. Aphalo Jun 8 '10 at 11:49

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added by robin girard Jun 2 '10 at 11:18

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added by Mehper C. Palavuzlar Jun 3 '10 at 10:35

too broad perhaps? what application do you want to use them for? Do you need to have the numbers be reproducible? Do you want one that steps? What languages are you willing to use? Are you willing to pay for software? – chollida Jun 3 '10 at 19:33

Sounds like a valid question to me; especially for someone not familiar with the options. – Mal Ross Jun 3 '10 at 19:40

Most statistical packages come with high-quality random number generators, The days of poor PRNGs bolloxing up simulations went out with RANDU. That issue is virtually a historic accident. The question can be answered by 'anything that uses Mersenne Twister', which (these days anyway) means 'Just about everything'. – ConcernedOfTunbridgeWells Jun 10 '10 at 11:24

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added by robin girard, edited by Rob Hyndman Jun 3 '10 at 13:25

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added by Pedro J. Aphalo Jun 8 '10 at 13:42

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added by Michel de Ruiter Jun 15 '10 at 20:10

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added by Michel de Ruiter Jun 15 '10 at 20:13

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added by robin girard Jun 16 '10 at 5:58

Too vague; without knowing more about what a "power forecast" is, it's impossible to answer. This might be more appropriate in a solar power area. – pinko Jun 16 '10 at 21:04

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added by Menno May 27 '10 at 9:06

Not sure about this one... on the one hand this kind of falls under 'Statistics 101', on the other hand it could turn into a nice resource for people who want to ask that kind of question (and thus no longer have to) – Menno May 27 '10 at 10:15

I think it is definitely the type of resource that should end up on this Stack Exchange, but the current system does not suit this sort of question very well. Community wiki's might help. I would also avoid not allowing questions that are classed as '101'. Some people have a lot of perception of a problem without necesserily having much theoretical understanding and I think we should encourage that sort of person as well as giving them the tools to improve their theortical understanding. – Ian Turner May 27 '10 at 13:34

advanced statistics - to vague – Karsten W. Jun 6 '10 at 15:00

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added by Ian Turner May 27 '10 at 11:58

"Should" questions don't really belong here, in my opinion. But a small change makes this a good question: "What are the pros and cons of using equal vs. variable bin sizes when tabulating a frequency distribution?" – Harvey Motulsky Jun 9 '10 at 15:20

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added by Larry OBrien May 29 '10 at 0:48

This could easily be classified as a programming or statistics question and one could make a pretty robust argument either way. – ConcernedOfTunbridgeWells Jun 10 '10 at 11:20

I'd love to know the answer to this but perhaps it really is more appropriate for SO. – Jared Updike Jun 12 '10 at 23:40

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added by Jay Stevens May 29 '10 at 12:27

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added by Arlen Beiler May 31 '10 at 1:07

closed as off topic by chollida, Matt Parker, Peter K., Jeromy Anglim, Mike Mazur Jun 5 '10 at 10:24

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Isn't this in the category of data mining? – Arlen Beiler May 31 '10 at 1:43

For me, the problems with "where can I get data X" questions are that there is essentially no limit to them, and that the expertise required to choose the correct data for analysis isn't really statistical expertise - it's more about content knowledge (e.g., if I'm looking for economic data, I should be asking an economist). As mentioned elsewhere, it's something that will most likely come up and be answered - but that doesn't mean it should be encouraged, necessarily. – Matt Parker May 31 '10 at 7:41

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added by Matt Parker Jun 2 '10 at 1:41

Just occurred to me today that I'd love to ask a wide audience of statisticians for career advice. Does it fit? – Matt Parker Jun 2 '10 at 1:43

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added by chollida Jun 4 '10 at 1:14

I think this would fall into the homework questions category, specifically because there is no attempt to show what was attempted. – chollida Jun 4 '10 at 1:23

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added by David Basarab Jun 8 '10 at 14:36

This is on topic but not the sort of "advanced" question that would encourage professionals to gather at SE since it so basic (and can be looked up in WIkipedia). This is like the equivalent of a homework question on SO. Add a link to Wikipedia and close. – Jared Updike Jun 8 '10 at 16:31

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added by Gordon Gustafson Jun 16 '10 at 3:01

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added by Ian Turner May 27 '10 at 15:01

I have mixed feelings about this one. I think asking about tools should be an acceptable use of the site, but this strikes me as more of a StackOverflow question because of the "open-source framework" bit. – Matt Parker May 27 '10 at 19:47

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added by cindi May 28 '10 at 7:42

Subjective I suppose. – Menno May 28 '10 at 8:28

@Menno: I assume you are then a no vote. "Subjective" alone is not a reason to kill a question. – Stu Thompson May 29 '10 at 6:10

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added by Foster Brereton Jun 4 '10 at 4:15

Image processing, not statistics. – Jared Updike Jun 4 '10 at 6:43

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added by Michel de Ruiter Jun 15 '10 at 20:03

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added by Michel de Ruiter Jun 15 '10 at 20:11

The question is too vague. It might be on-topic but is not specific enough to say one way or the other. – Sean Jun 16 '10 at 17:08

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added by Gordon Gustafson Jun 16 '10 at 3:02

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added by Scott Wisniewski May 27 '10 at 3:23

Too vague. A good algorithm for what? – Rob Hyndman May 27 '10 at 3:43

Maybe this is a suitable question to help point a beginning analyst in the right direction – Rog May 27 '10 at 4:56

But what direction? Is it a good algorithm for unsupervised clustering, prediction, classification, or something else? The question is impossible to answer without more information. – Rob Hyndman May 27 '10 at 6:27

It's on-topic, but it's a bad question (I'd vote to close it). I wish there were some way to indicate this. – Anton Geraschenko May 27 '10 at 7:11

I agree with Rob on this one, it is too vague to answer. What is the data, what are you trying to accomplish, etc... – Waleed Al-Balooshi May 27 '10 at 12:31

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added by Tyler Carter May 27 '10 at 3:39

	Some people might see 'statistics' and think that people are talking about just random facts. – Tyler Carter May 27 '10 at 3:40
	Duplicate of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/33/… – Jon Seigel May 27 '10 at 4:26

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added by cindi, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 31 '10 at 19:02

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added by cindi, edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around May 31 '10 at 19:02

They are, but... – Matt Parker May 27 '10 at 19:03

My attempt to refine this question so that it's more focused, but still fundamentally about data *presentation*: area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/33/… – Anton Geraschenko May 27 '10 at 20:58

I voted no because of the wording, which is designed to elicit strong opinions rather than answers. I think questions about the best way to display parts-of-whole data would be welcome. – Harvey Motulsky May 28 '10 at 3:02

Under the new paradigm, I'm voting "Not a good example" because it IS on topic - it's just a crappy question (as Harvey mentions). This doesn't help us delineate between well-formed on- and off-topic questions. – Matt Parker Jun 4 '10 at 21:47

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added by ilhan Jun 3 '10 at 21:28

A casino in Vegas? – Jared Updike Jun 4 '10 at 6:45

Definitions can be looked up in wikipedia, or elsewhere via Google. This site can become far more than a glossary. – Harvey Motulsky Jun 8 '10 at 16:26

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added by Hellbog Jun 4 '10 at 19:13

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added by Hanno Fietz May 28 '10 at 22:59

Too philosophical? – d03boy Jun 2 '10 at 4:05

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added by Harvey Motulsky , edited by WikiSpeedia hang-around Jun 3 '10 at 22:19

This should be determined using a nonparametric procedure, since statisticians are NOT NORMAL. eyrie.org/~thad/strange/lightbulbs.html – Harvey Motulsky May 25 '10 at 15:32

Don't bother. No inference can be made from one light bulb. sites.google.com/site/billadamsphd/… – Harvey Motulsky May 25 '10 at 15:42

I think we should hope to get some humor into this site, to make it more vibrant. Hopefully some of the humor will be funnier than this example. – Harvey Motulsky May 26 '10 at 22:08

No doubt such questions will get asked, but there is no need to encourage them. – Rob Hyndman May 27 '10 at 6:28

I think the answer is 1.34957238761987379 plus or minus 4. – JD Long Jun 2 '10 at 20:09

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up vote -8 down vote

added by Hanno Fietz May 28 '10 at 22:58

closed as off topic by ilhan, chollida, Peter K., Mike Mazur, Yacoby Jun 6 '10 at 9:46

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

Is it really a GREAT off topic example. To my view, it is to vague but if we put it as a great off topic example this could make people think that this site is not for non statistician to know what statistic can solve... – robin girard Jun 15 '10 at 6:56

I agree. And while this is a bad question, one might imagine some very interesting statistical analysis of poker as being a good on topic subject. – Shane Jun 16 '10 at 17:39