Estimations and Models

1 Vibes and Evidence

Write a short essay (50-150 words) on the following questions

  • What is an issue you think is important?
  • What do you or other think about that issue (vibe check)?
  • What sorts of evidence do you think would create a more informed opinion?

2 Quantitative Argument Notes

Read the section on quantitative argument and answer the following questions. There are no wrong answers here, this is to get you thinking broadly about how math can be used.

  • Provide an example of a decision you think should be made on the basis of a quantitative argument.
    • Did the decision use evidence?
    • What could have been done better?
    • Do we have the information we need?

3 How many tacos

You are purchasing enough tacos to feed Sonoma State students at a campus-wide event for lunch today.

  • Estimate the number of tacos the caterer should bring.
  • List out the assumptions you are making.

4 SSU Holding Hands

You are creating a viral video event where every student at Sonoma State holds hands in a long chain. You need to ask the RoPo police to block a lane of traffic on the roads.

What length of road in feet or miles should you ask them to reserve.

5 Tree Diagram

Describe an estimate that you think would be interesting or useful. Describe how you would attempt the estimation and draw a tree diagram showing the quantities needed in the estimation.

6 Twenty Questions

Draft a list of twenty questions that could be answered by one of these types of estimates.

7 Art of Insight Reading

Please read the following:

  • Art of Insight reading parts 1.1–1.3. Here is a link to the reading (Links to an external site.). https://www.dropbox.com/s/e5n71s1euqz4m04/Mahajan-01.pdf?dl=0

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences.

  • Do you find the tree method useful? Why or why not?
  • What do you think the tree method is attempting to do or clarify?

8 Associations

Recall that an association between a cause and an effect is one of the conditions for causality. For this exercise, find an example in a popular or journal article of a statistical association in an area of interest to you.

Write a short 100-word report that adresses the points below:

  • Include a link to the source
  • Show a graph or table from the article showing evidence of the association
  • Comment on whether the cause is binary or continuous
  • Comment on whether the outcome is binary or continuous
  • Comment on what the data points represent
  • Explain how this association helps establish causality