- The use of colour in graphical displays
- The history of statistical graphics
- Experiments in the visual perception of statistical graphics
- The Golden report and the economic arguments for and against amalgamation
- Estimating the size of wildlife populations
- Environmental risks of trace chemicals, with reference to {\it Our Stolen Future} and criticisms of it
- The statistical evidence for the birth order effect, with reference to
Born to Rebel, and a Chance article from 1995.
- The effects of passive smoking: how good is the evidence?
- The survey of business expectations by Dun & Bradstreet: how is this
carried out, and what is its track record?
- What type of mathematics is used in finance? There is a readable book
on this recently published, Against the Gods by Peter L.~ Bernstein.
- What is the evidence really for the association between power lines
and cancer?
Here are some topics that students did last year:
- The use of DNA fingerprinting in the courts
- The cancer risk of second-hand smoke
- The Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada
- Mcleans' survey of higher education
- The evidence for HIV as a cause of AIDS
- Statistical arguments used in sports
- Assessing environmental risk
- Clinical trials
- Standardized testing in the schools
- Global warming
Many Chance articles that we'll discuss next term can lead
to essay topics. I'll bring a list of them next week.