Sep 06
Business Insider has published its current listing of “The 50 Best Colleges in America”, which is based largely on government compiled data and student experience measurements compiled by Niche, an education research firm. The rankings were based on the following criteria: High-quality education On-time graduation rates Early-career earnings “a memorable and enjoyable campus experience that instills …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/09/business-insider-reports-on-top-colleges/
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2016/08/excel-default-settings-can-cause-significant-analysis-errors/
May 06
A recent report indicated that over a 10 year period approximately 1,600 Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) employees willfully evaded their tax obligations. The wrongful activity included: failing to file timely claiming improper dependents claiming improper first-time homebuyer credits The law calls for the termination of such employees unless it is waived by the IRS commissioner. …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/05/irs-workers-found-to-have-evade-tax-payment/
Jan 12
As recently reported by Variety, a new Warner Brothers film will put a face to the role of average mild mannered accountant. Apparently, he looks like Ben Affleck. Of course, this particular accountant also moonlights as an assassin. As one might. And presumably hangs out with Anna Kendrick (role undefined) and Cynthia Addai-Robinson (your run …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2015/01/who-hollywood-thinks-should-play-the-accountant/
Dec 02
A recent article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek discussed how in contrast to past generations, American seniors currently make up one of the wealthiest segments of the US population. According to Bloomberg, a combination of strong saving habits (honed from having lived through the Great Depression) and advantageous timing (having come of working age just after WWII …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/12/should-the-elderly-be-paying-more-for-movie-tickets/
Jan 07
In the course of affirming the district court’s decision in Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., 2013 WL 6017396, Judge Posner went a step further. While upholding the injunction, he ended his assessment with some comments “for future reference” when it comes to consumer surveys offered to demonstrate consumer confusion …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/01/addressing-judicial-concerns-about-consumer-surveys/
Jan 02
According to a recent survey conducted by Accountemps, it is Tuesday. Thirty-Nine percent of the Human Resources managers interviewed ranked Tuesday as the most productive day of the week. The survey was conducted by an independant research firm, with over 300 U.S. Human Resources managers being interviewed at companies with over 20 employees. How did …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2014/01/most-productive-day-of-the-week/
Oct 03
A recently published article on “Weight Bias in Graduate School Admissions” (gated link here) inadvertently highlights the dangers of drawing global conclusions based on inappropriate samples. Based on responses from 97 applicants to one university’s psychology department, the study asserts that graduate applicants with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) tend to receive significantly fewer …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/10/according-to-a-scrawny-sample-fatter-applicants-are-less-likely-to-get-into-graduate-school/
Oct 02
A popular news service reported that it costs $241,080 to raise a child and then remarked, “the cost of raising a child is climbing at a rate that many families can’t keep up with.” The news agency cites falling wages and lower employment rates as support for this struggle to keep up. A host of …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/10/it-costs-241080-to-raise-a-child-and-other-reasons-why-averages-can-be-completely-uninformative/
Sep 26
Last Tuesday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 shook with such violence that it created a new island off the coast of Pakistan, as well as tragically killing at least 515 people and affecting at least 300,000 more. The international community has attempted to provide relief and humanitarian assistance. A 2013 social science paper indicates that …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2013/09/using-fatalities-to-predict-humanitarian-aid/
Aug 29
Excel Default Settings Can Cause Significant Analysis Errors
August 29, 2016
A recent study published in the scientific journal Genome Biology describes a concerning error rate in genetic studies caused by default settings in the commonly used spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel. The default cell formatting option in Excel will inadvertently convert gene symbols to dates and floating-point numbers. Examples include: gene symbol SEPT2 (Septin 2) is converted by …
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