Statistics
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Shep Sherman has noticed an alarming
rise in the number of UFO sightings. He's also discovered an explosion in
the number of left-handed people. Aliens must be invading! Shep creates an
evacuation plan for the town.
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But the town's police chief, Chief
Chan, dismisses Shep's plan, and all his research. "This data is bogus!
It's wrong!" Shep sues the chief for doing nothing to protect the town
from the coming alien invasion.
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In Science Court, Chief Chan's
attorney, Alison Krempel, begins to poke holes in Shep's case. Dr.
Numeroni explains that, although the charts look similar, Shep's data
about UFO sightings and left-handed people don't necessarily have anything
to do with each other.
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Expert witness Amy Krupp explains to
the jury how you can gather data using a random sample -- and when a
random sample doesn't work. And Stenographer Fred gets to eat a lot of
jelly beans.
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What does Professor Parsons have to
say about Shep's research? Was Shep's survey biased?
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It's up to the jury to decide: does
Shep's data show that aliens are about to invade, or is he just using a
bunch of funny numbers?
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All text, images, and music copyright © 1997 Science Court, Inc. All rights reserved.
