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The Case of the Two-Faced Data

By Rachel L. Rossetti

The Case of the Two-Faced Data


 

Abstract

This case study on Simpson's paradox is a fictionalized account of a famous case of alleged gender discrimination at University of California at Berkeley. "Jane Eyre" was a young woman who applied to the top Ph.D. programs in English in the United States. A seemingly perfect candidate, Jane was accepted to all but one program, "Bronte University." What went wrong? In aggregate, Bronte University's graduate school admitted a higher percentage of male applicants than female applicants, suggesting possible gender discrimination. But when the numbers are broken down into individual departments, we learn that each department actually admitted a higher percentage of female applicants than male applicants. This is the basis of Simpson's paradox: a trend appears in two separate groups that disappears when the two groups are combined. Students completing the case engage in a combination of individual work, small group discussion, and summative whole-class discussions. Originally developed for a college-level math for liberal arts course, the case is adaptable to any course in which students work with data that may lead to Simpson's paradox.

   

Date Posted

08/29/2019

Overview

Objectives

  • Describe the presentation of Simpson's paradox.
  • Describe the cause of Simpson's paradox.
  • Explain how data can be manipulated to support two opposing statements.
  • Critique the presentation of data in media sources (if the optional current events assignment is used; see Variations and Assignments below).

Keywords

Simpson’s paradox; data; statistics; mathematics; gender bias; discrimination; aggregate data; trend

  

Subject Headings

Mathematics
Statistics

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

High school, Undergraduate lower division

  

FORMAT

PDF

   

TOPICAL AREAS

Science and the media, Social issues, Social justice issues, Women in science

   

LANGUAGE

English

   

TYPE/METHODS

N/A, Analysis (Issues), Debate, Directed, Discussion, Role-Play

 

 

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