Against All Odds: Inside Statistics

Statistics interesting? You bet. Program 3 in the series has the uninspiring title of "Describing Distributions: Numerical Description of Distribution", and, according to host Teresa Amabile, will show viewers how to determine mean and medium from a numerical set, how to graph a boxplot, and how to figure the interquartile ranges and the standard deviation. Heady stuff. But Against All Odds creatively uses visual stories to illustrate the formulas it teaches. And therein lies the difference between this series and a stats textbook. The camera goes to Colorado Springs to examine the median earnings of men and women in comparable jobs, and finds that women are being paid much lower. Here's a case where statistics translated into a higher paycheck for a number of women, as Colorado Springs became the first city in the country to implement a "comparable worth" program. To demonstrate a boxplot, the producers ask the pressing question: what's the calorie content of various types of hotdogs-and come up with some surprising answers. And to figure out standard deviation, the program visits a medical clinic where the urine analysis samples of babies are set to tunes such as "America the Beautiful", and then played back. A sour note means that for a particular value, the baby has fallen out of the acceptable range. Another segment sampled, Program 8: "Describing Relationships", examined scatterplots, linear relationships, and regression lines using the same inventive methods-this time looking at the relationship between powerboat licenses and manatee deaths in Florida, among other interesting incidents. This series is highly recommended for high school and up, but it is also accessible to general audiences and would therefore be a good choice for public libraries. (Available from: Annenberg/CPB Project, P.O. Box 4069, Santa Barbara, CA 931404069.)