Quantitude

A podcast dedicated to all things quantitative, ranging from the relevant to the highly irrelevant. Co-hosts Patrick Curran and Greg Hancock talk about serious statistical topics, but without taking themselves too seriously. Think: CarTalk hi-jacked by the two grumpy old guys from the Muppets, grousing about quantitative methods, statistics, and data analysis, all presented to you with the production value of a 6th grade school project. But in a good way.

S7E01 The Seven Year Itch

In this week's episode, the first of Season 7, Greg and Patrick argue about whether the number seven is a propitious or an inauspicious omen for the new season. They then explore ways we can spice up our relationship in hopes of avoiding the Seven Year Itch. Along the way they also discuss t-shirt wearing dogs, Mickey Mantle, the seven deadly sins, Akira Kurosawa, the Boeing triple-seven, menage-a-pods, unwritten books, El Duderino, mmmmmmaybe, I see dead people, ROYGBIV, Ozzy Man, dodg...

09-09
37:01

S6E21 Quantitude: How the Sausage is Made

In this week's episode, the last of Season 6, Patrick and Greg pull back the curtain and reveal how the Quantitude sausage is actually made. Their motivation is to share their own joys and challenges in making a podcast in the hope that others might consider doing this themselves, whether it be for simple self-satisfaction or for using it as a free speech platform in a time when other avenues of communication are feeling increasingly compromised. Along the way they also discuss baring y...

05-20
57:21

S6E20 Dominance Analysis

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick explore the extremely clever yet inexplicably underused method of dominance analysis which offers a set of techniques for determining the relative importance of predictors in a regression model. Along the way they also discuss giving compliments, looking tired, Indy vs. F1, chicken paprikas, Gustav Holst, Fozzie Bear, not paying attention while recording, Lewis Hamilton pin-ups, Lando Calrissian, equation forts, being appallingly cool, making no sense a...

04-29
42:17

S6E19 Misheard (Statistical) Lyrics: A Mixtape

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg have some serious fun with song lyrics they misunderstood at some point in their personal lives. They then use this as a thinly veiled excuse to explore some very basic statistical things that they have also misunderstood at some point in their professional lives. Along the way they discuss over-engineered front ends, mumbling, Scaramouche, mondegreens, Tony Danza, Bingo Jed, word salad, containers, sitting next to Kurt Cobain, kicking cats, tiddles, ea...

04-15
45:32

S6E18 Count Variables

In today’s episode Patrick and Greg talk about outcomes that are count variables: when you need to worry about them and what you can do about them within your analytical models. Along the way they also mention: Bela Lugosi, Vlad the Impaler, Patrick the Poker, Count Chocula, Count von Count, drunken bar brawls, secret distributions, K!, bio breaks, second favorite child, Animal Farm, Cliff’s notes, A’s in band, and more equal zeros. Stay in contact with Quantitude! Web page: quantitud...

04-01
42:24

S6E17 Age-Period-Cohort Analysis

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick explore both the challenges and the opportunities of age-period-cohort analysis when trying to understand the complexities of human behavior over time. Along the way they also discuss bachelor night, Dave Brubeck, pay phones, street lights, global nuclear war, lazy thinking, I'm not a crook, biking to grandmas, HMS Pinafore, the Beatles, aggressive mice, trash snakes, and getting high at A-Basin. Stay in contact with Quantitude! Web page: quantitudepo...

03-18
41:34

S6E16 Correspondence Analysis

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick shine a flashlight on correspondence analysis and find that this is an extraordinarily cool yet often neglected method similar to factor analysis but applied to nominal contingency tables. Along the way they also discuss online personality tests, marital therapy, modern antibiotics, the Newlywed Game, grand slams, the advantages of being flexible, disrespecting nominal variables, formally apologizing to linguists, Winnie the Pooh, VH1's Pop-Up Video, th...

03-04
46:41

S6E15 Loglinear Models: Someone Should Have Told You

In this week’s episode Greg and Patrick talk about loglinear models as a clever method to deconstruct the potential dependencies among two or more categorical variables. Along the way, they also discuss Children of the Corn, Mr. Magoo glasses, tighty whities, Fogo de Chão, blinded by hand soap, logarithms as drug mules, Euler Euler Euler, conspiracy boards and red yarn, M&M colors, depth perception problems, and apologies to Mrs. Johnson Stay in contact with Quantitude! Web page: quanti...

02-18
40:08

S6E14 Factor Rotation: But is it Art?

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick invoke the very personal interpretation of modern art as a framework for thinking about the exceedingly cool topic of rotation in exploratory factor analysis. Along the way they also discuss Venice Beach, haystacks, drug fronts, being insufferable, ignoramuses, .22's and stop signs, weak pivots, honking factors, pooping out matrices, the Gulf of America, twitchy eyeballs, big fat zeros, obliquity, and Extortomax. Stay in contact with Quanti...

02-04
42:57

S6E13 Group Codes in GLM: Dummy and Dummier

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick talk about group coding approaches, like dummy variables and effect code variables, for helping to analyze group differences within the larger general linear model. Along they way they also discuss hacking up a lung, made for audio faces, walking pneumonia, putting Vicks VapoRub on your feet, cards in your spokes, confusing rental cars, crash test dummies, what is your quest, 25-cent Nyquil night, Bonferroni glasses, the Romans, and Nyquil haze. S...

01-21
45:47

S6E12 Suppression Unrepressed

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg explore the fascinating world of suppressor variables which have the nearly magical, yet fully understandable, distinction of being unrelated to the dependent variable yet serving to enhance the predictive utility of other variables in the model. Along the way they also discuss getting the giggles, giving away our secrets, Sigmund Freud, repressed variance, Greg's defense mechanisms, Keyser Soze, the Cookie Monster, squirrel proof bird feeders, Wo...

01-07
37:44

S6E11 A Brief Holiday Message...

This week we just want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to sharing more quant fun in the new year. Please take care everyone! Stay in contact with Quantitude! Web page: quantitudepod.org TwitterX: @quantitudepod YouTube: @quantitudepod Merch: redbubble.com

12-24
08:07

S6E10 Instrumental Variables (Dad)Rock!

In today’s episode, Greg and Patrick talk about instrumental variables: what they are, how they help to make causal claims, and the many assumptions and challenges associated with them. Along the way they also mention: Festival of Side Dishes, pilot turkeys, gutsy bagpipes, charter schools, drama kids, RCT wieners, Space Force, licking a rainbow, Duranimals, draft lotteries, shoelace color, buttress, mother-in-lawing, and kazoo duets. Stay in contact with Quantitude! Web page: quantit...

12-17
45:03

S6E09 Masterpiece Theatre: Skrondal & Laake (2001)

This week Patrick and Greg talk about one of Patrick's favorite papers, which is a masterpiece not only in terms of its quantitative contribution in understanding the differential role of factor scores, but also as a model of clear and concise technical communication. Along the way they also mention Sandals and Motel 6, hotel hangers and glasses, hitchhikers under the bed, icebreakers with Roger, David Mamet films, Patrick’s conversations with himself, Rondo, title colons, carving elephants, ...

12-03
39:59

S6E08 The Statenfreude of Generalized Estimating Equations

In this week's episode, Patrick and Greg discuss the benefits and limitations of generalized estimating equations as an approach to dealing with data that violate the assumption of independence. Along the way they also mention: goat rodeos, haunted houses, jump scares, liberos, Haikyu!!, Whoa Ace!, dadenfreude, Otto, cutting the baguette, this just in, American Idiot, bing bong bing bong, my dad drinks Pepsi, and fine print. Stay in contact with Quantitude! Web page: quantitudepod.org Twit...

11-19
42:49

S6E07 Structural After Measurement and the Muffin of Truth

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick talk about the advantages of recent structural after measurement work, allowing us to break apart traditional structural equation models to analyze the measurement and structural portions separately. Along the way they also discuss the baseball playoffs, fire pit face plants, the gluten cabinet, pumpkin inadequacy, a soupçon of ginger, free range muffins, fancy pants souffles, drunken whac-a-mole, flexing lats, and blue on black. Stay in contact w...

11-05
42:25

S6E06 Pop Quiz: Acronyms

In this week's episode Greg tries to ambush Patrick by bringing back the popular feature Pop Quiz, this time with a statistical acronym theme, only to pretty much get crushed by Patrick in the end. Along they way they also discuss: Wow That's Fantastic, QR codes and octogenarians, Questionable Rectum, catharsis, grassy knolls, petards, Sean ringtones, pity minutes, apologies to Roy Levy, bad clock management, asteroid Roombas, pitching beach balls, statistical sock puppets, and the DIC talk.&...

10-22
40:40

S6E05 Cattell's Data Box

In this week's episode Patrick and Greg discuss Cattell's data box and try to better understand what it is, what it is not, and how we might make use of this in practice. Along the way they also discuss illegal knives, baseball cards, the Cubs and the Mariners, bicentennial quarters, how to load a dishwasher, horrible people, anal retentive friends, Flat Stanley, Dungeons & Dragons, pricing yourself out of business, needing 20 friends, being super pedantic, The Full Monty, stereograms, an...

10-15
39:34

S6E04 Person-Centered vs. Variable-Centered Analysis

In this week's episode, Patrick and Greg talk about person-centered methods versus variable-centered methods with the punch line being that the historically contentious distinction between these two is unnecessary, unhelpful, and even counter-productive. Along the way they also mention lost luggage, Sabena Air t-shirts, the Inquisition, honey badger Americans, Fredrik Backman, punch lines, a frayed knot, the Keanu Reeves of statistics, new bosses and old bosses, non sequiturs, fffsssshhhhh, e...

10-08
46:00

S6E03 Multiple Choice Is ______

In this week's episode Greg and Patrick explore the surprisingly tricky topic of multiple choice items: how to write them, how not to write them, and giving a well written test the respect it deserves. Along the way they also discuss recognizing emotions, laying down 50 feet of rubber, glass animals, rewriting your kid's test, self-righteousness, Dora the Explorer, the Magna Carta, accidentally becoming a better teacher, dumpster diving, a special place in hell, Trivial Pursuit as blood sport...

09-24
39:27

Vassili Savinov

great episode. really appreciated the coverage of standard error. one missed opportunity, imho, was slapping a prior on that likelihood to get a posterior, and thus connecting to Bayesian stats

10-06 Reply

Vassili Savinov

great episode. could have been connected to Bayesian stats better

10-03 Reply

Vassili Savinov

you managed to explain visual path tracing in audio-only setting. Amazing, thanks!

10-01 Reply

Vassili Savinov

hit it with a bigger MC hammer - love it. on a more serious note, this episode was great at making me think deeper about logistic regression.

09-25 Reply

Vassili Savinov

Amazing episode. Convergence to impossible solutions does happen. Hosts gave a couple of great solutions for dealing with it

09-24 Reply

09-06

08-02

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