What sports statisticians do at home

This cartoon is having a jibe at the massive collection of data which takes place in the context of sporting performance. It could be used to begin a discussion on:

1. what data are relevant to record,
2. how data are recorded,
3. over what period of time data are recorded, and
4. the appearance of "record high" values in data recorded over time.

This last point is often discussed in relation to records set in sports, as well as in relation to record temperatures and rainfall readings. Sudents could find other examples of time series data to discuss in relation to "records".

Where to next?

Student Questions for this article
Newspaper article
Index - Related articles
Index - Data Collection and Sampling
Numeracy in the News - Main Index