{"action":"created","issue":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8","labels_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8/labels{/name}","comments_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8/comments","events_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8/events","html_url":"https://github.com/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8","id":105706478,"number":8,"title":"make inference() go away","user":{"login":"beanumber","id":2774211,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2774211?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber","html_url":"https://github.com/beanumber","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/beanumber/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"labels":[],"state":"open","locked":false,"assignee":null,"milestone":null,"comments":1,"created_at":"2015-09-09T23:58:19Z","updated_at":"2015-09-10T00:26:12Z","closed_at":null,"body":"See (https://github.com/beanumber/oiLabs-mosaic/issues/2)\r\n\r\nNo offense to whoever wrote this, but I think I hate `inference()`. It's the worst: an undocumented, magic, black box function. \r\n\r\nI'll offer two potential solutions:\r\n1. Document this function **thoroughly**\r\n2. Make it go away.\r\n\r\nI favor the latter. The question is does this foster or impede understanding of statistical concepts? I argue the latter. Is it realistic to suggest that if you want to do inference, you can just plug into a mysterious function? Or should we be reinforcing a conceptual understanding of inference by breaking the procedures into small steps? And isn't it important that a student specify **how** she is doing inference? \r\n\r\nI don't teach with this anyway. If you want to do a t-test, use `t.test()`. If you want to find a p-value in a normal sampling distribution, use `pnorm()`. If you want to find a p-value in a t-distribution, use `pt()`. If you want to find a p-value in a data-generated sampling distribution, use `mosaic::pdata()`. \r\n\r\nOn a slightly more esoteric level, I'm not sure that any of the functions in this package are really useful. I don't mind teaching students about functions in `dplyr` or `mosaic` because I know those packages are widely-used and likely to be well-supported in the future. But the function in this package never get used outside of these labs, so are they really necessary? \r\n\r\n/diatribe\r\n"},"comment":{"url":"https://api.github.com/repos/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/comments/139079420","html_url":"https://github.com/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8#issuecomment-139079420","issue_url":"https://api.github.com/repos/andrewpbray/oilabs/issues/8","id":139079420,"user":{"login":"mine-cetinkaya-rundel","id":5965649,"avatar_url":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/5965649?v=3","gravatar_id":"","url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel","html_url":"https://github.com/mine-cetinkaya-rundel","followers_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/followers","following_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/following{/other_user}","gists_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/gists{/gist_id}","starred_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/starred{/owner}{/repo}","subscriptions_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/subscriptions","organizations_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/orgs","repos_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/repos","events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/events{/privacy}","received_events_url":"https://api.github.com/users/mine-cetinkaya-rundel/received_events","type":"User","site_admin":false},"created_at":"2015-09-10T00:26:12Z","updated_at":"2015-09-10T00:26:12Z","body":"The function is undocumented in the sense that it doesn't have a help function, since we never got around to putting these in a package. It is documented in the lab where it's introduced, or at least it was in the original version of that lab.\r\n\r\nHere are the reasons why I like the function:\r\n* It uses the same syntax regardless of type of variables/tests\r\n* It gives human (student) readable errors\r\n* It implements all the tests as described in OpenIntro Statistics (OS2 currently, but I'm working on updating to OS3)\r\n* I don't think breaking the procedures into small steps reinforce conceptual understanding, in fact I would argue that being able to use a consistent syntax across all types of tests is a better approach for reinforcing conceptual understanding of the unified nature of inference (as opposed to a series of tests)\r\n* I have seen a substantial decrease in frustration / struggle level of students when using this function in their projects (for example, there are some warnings/errors thrown when they try to use an unexpected variable type)\r\n\r\nCurrent problems with the function:\r\n* Lack of documentation in a help file\r\n* Code is messy as I wrote it in bits and pieces (as I mentioned elsewhere I'm currently working on cleaning it up)"}}