It delights me that several of my statistics videos have been viewed over half a million times each. As well there is a stream of lovely comments (with the odd weird one) from happy viewers, who have found in the videos an answer to their problems.
In this post I will outline the main videos available on the Statistics Learning Centre YouTube Channel. They already belong to 24,000 playlists and lists of recommended resources in textbooks the world over. We are happy for teachers and learners to continue to link to them. Having them all in one place should make it easier for instructors to decide which ones to use in their courses.

Philosophy of the videos

Early on in my video production I wrote a series of blog posts about the videos. One was Effective multimedia teaching videos. The videos use graphics and audio to increase understanding and retention, and are mostly aimed at conceptual understanding rather than procedural understanding.
I also wrote a critique of Khan Academy videos, explaining why I felt they should be improved. Not surprisingly this ruffled a few feathers and remains my most commented on post. I would be thrilled if Khan had lifted his game, but I fear this is not the case. The Khan Academy pie chart video still uses an unacceptable example with too many and ordered categories. (January 2018)
Before setting out to make videos about confidence intervals, I critiqued the existing offerings in this post. At the time the videos were all about how to find a confidence interval, and not what it does. I suspect that may be why my video, Understanding Confidence Intervals, remains popular.

Note to instructors

You are welcome to link to our YouTube channel, and we get a tiny amount of money from people clicking on the ads. Please do NOT download the videos, as it is against YouTube rules, and deprives us of income. Note that we also have a separate pay-to-view channel, with considerably more videos, at higher resolution, with no advertising. Email us at info@statsLC.com for free trial access to these videos, with a view to providing them for your students on a subscription basis. If you have trouble with reliable internet access, we can also provide the videos as files for your network as part of the licence.
Newsflash June 2019: We now have some more videos available to people who join our YouTube channel. It is our way to say thank you for your support, and get some funding to keep making great videos.

Introducing statistics

Understanding Summary Statistics – Mean, median and mode 5:14 minutes

Why we need summary statistics and what each of them does. It is not about how to calculate the statistics, but what they mean. It uses the shoe example, which also appears in the PPDAC and OSEM videos.

Understanding Standard deviation and other measures of statistical spread 5:08 minutes (New June 2019)

Dr Nic explains the three measures of spread, range, inter-quartile range and standard deviation. This is part of a series of videos for introductory statistics. It uses real data collected from students about the number of pairs of shoes they own.It is not about how to calculate the statistics, but what they mean.

Understanding Graphs 6:06 minutes

I briefly explains the use and interpretation of seven different types of statistical graph. They include the pictogram, bar chart, pie chart, dot plot, stem and leaf, scatterplot and time series.

Analysing and commenting on Graphical output using OSEM 7:13 minutes

This video teaches how to comment on graphs and other statistical output by using the acronym OSEM. It is especially useful for students in NCEA statistics classes in New Zealand, but many people everywhere can find OSEM awesome! We use the example of comparing the number of pairs of shoes men and women students say they own.

Variation and Sampling error 6:30 minutes 60,000 views

Statistical methods are necessary because of the existence of variation. Sampling error is one source of variation, and is often misunderstood. This video explains sampling error, along with natural variation, explainable variation and variation due to bias. There is an accompanying video on non-sampling error.

Sampling methods 4:54 minutes 700,000 views

This video describes five common methods of sampling in data collection – simple random, convenience, systematic, cluster and stratified. Each method has a helpful symbolic representation.

Types of data 6:20 minutes 800,000 views

The kind of graph and analysis we can do with specific data is related to the type of data it is. In this video we explain the different levels of data, with examples. This video is particularly popular at the start of courses.

Important Statistical concepts 5:34 minutes 60,000 views

This video does not receive the views it deserves, as it covers three really important ideas. Maybe I should split it up into three videos. The ideas are the difference between significance and usefulness, evidence and strength of effect, causation and association.

Other videos complementary to these, but not on YouTube are:

• The statistical enquiry process
• Understanding the Box Plot
• Non-sampling error

Videos for teaching hypothesis testing

Understanding Statistical inference 6:46 minutes 80,000 views

The most difficult concept in statistics is that of inference. This video explains what statistical inference is and gives memorable examples. It is based on research around three concepts pivotal to inference – that the sample is likely to be a good representation of the population, that there is an element of uncertainty as to how well the sample represents the population, and that the way the sample is taken matters.

Understanding the p-value 4:43 minutes 700,000 views

This video explains how to use the p-value to draw conclusions from statistical output. It includes the story of Helen, making sure that the choconutties she sells have sufficient peanuts. It introduces the helpful phrase “p is low, null must go”.

Inference and evidence 3:34 minutes

This is a newer video, based on a little example I used in lectures to help students see the link between evidence and inference. Of course it involves chocolate.

Hypothesis tests 7:38 minutes 400,000 views

This entertaining video works step-by-step through a hypothesis test. Helen wishes to know whether giving away free stickers will increase her chocolate sales. This video develops the ideas from “Understanding the p-value”, giving more of the process of hypothesis testing. It is also complemented by the following video, that shows how to perform the analysis using Excel.

Two-means t-test in Excel 3:54 minutes 60,000 views

A step-by-step lesson on how to perform an independent samples t-test for difference of two means using the Data Analysis ToolPak in Excel. This is a companion video to Hypothesis tests, p-value, two means t-test.

Choosing which statistical test to use 9:33 minutes 700,000 views

I am particularly proud of this video, and the way it links the different tests together. It took a lot of work to come up with this. First it outlines a process for thinking about the data, the sample and the thing you are trying to find out. Then it works through seven tests with scenarios based around Helen and the Choconutties. This video is particularly popular near the end of the semester, for tying together the different tests and applications.

Confidence Intervals

Understanding Confidence Intervals 4:02 minutes 700,000 views

This short video gives an explanation of the concept of confidence intervals, with helpful diagrams and examples. The emphasis is on what a confidence interval is and how it is used, rather than how they are calculated or derived.

Calculating the confidence interval for a mean using a formula 5:29 minutes 250,000 views

This video carries on from “Understanding Confidence Intervals” and introduces a formula for calculating a confidence interval for a mean. It uses graphics and animation to help understanding.

There are also videos pertinent to the New Zealand curriculum using bootstrapping and informal methods to find confidence intervals.

Probability

Introduction to Probability 2:54 minutes

This video explains what probability is and why we use it. It does NOT use dice, coins or balls in urns. It is the first in a series of six videos introducing basic probability with a conceptual approach. The other five videos can be accessed through subscription.

Understanding Random Variables 5:08 minutes 130,000 views

The idea of a random variable can be surprisingly difficult. In this video we help you learn what a random variable is, and the difference between discrete and continuous random variables. It uses the example of Luke and his ice cream stand.

Understanding the Normal Distribution 7:44 minutes 80,000 views

In this video we explain the characteristics of the normal distribution, and why it is so useful as a model for real-life entities.

There are also two other videos about random variables, discrete and continuous.

Risk and Screening 7:54 minutes

This video explains about risk and screening, and shows how to calculate and express rates of false positives and false negatives. An imaginary disease, “Earpox” is used for the examples.

Other videos

Designing a Questionnaire 5:23 minutes 60,000 views

This was written specifically to support learning in Level 1 NCEA in the NZ school system but is relevant for anyone needing to design a questionnaire. There is a companion video on good and bad questions.

Line-fitting and regression

Scatterplots in Excel 5:17 minutes 25,000 views

The first step in doing a regression in Excel is to fit the line using a Scatter plot. This video shows how to do this, illustrated by the story of Helen and the effect of temperature on her sales of choconutties

Regression in Excel 6:27 minutes

This video explains Regression and how to perform regression in Excel and interpret the output. The story of Helen and her choconutties continues. This follows on from Scatterplots in Excel and Understanding the p-value.

There are three videos introducing bivariate relationships in a more conceptual way.
There are also videos covering experimental design and randomisation, time series analysis and networks. In the pipeline is a video “understanding the Central Limit Theorem.”

Supporting our endeavours

As explained in a previous post, Lessons for a budding Social Enterprise, Statistics Learning Centre is a social enterprise, with our aim to build a world of mathematicians and enable people to make intelligent use of statistics. Though we get some income from YouTube videos, it does not support the development of more videos. If you would like to help us to create further videos contact us to discuss subscriptions, sponsorship, donations and advertising possibilities. info@statsLC.com or n.petty@statsLC.com.