We estimate two common nonlinear models (quadratic and semilog) and one new model (exponential) of the time-age relationship in 500-yard freestyle swim times in the U.S. National Senior Games (ages 50 and up) in six biennial NSGA competitions (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019) for 468 men and 587 women. We use OLS and quantile regression (25%, 50%, and 75%) separately for each gender. The semilog model predicts faster times than the quadratic or exponential models. Our hypothesis that women slow down faster than men after age 50 is supported by both models as well as by our unique within-gender comparisons. Our findings of a nonlinear performance decline agree with studies of elite swimmers (Olympic, FINA). Our first-time study of NSGA data provides new guidelines to inform senior competitors. Our findings will assist trainers and community organizations that support NSGA competitions to promote a healthy senior lifestyle.

This paper discusses common approaches to presenting the topic of skewness in the classroom, and explains why students need to know how to measure it. Two skewness statistics are examined: the Fisher-Pearson standardized third moment coefficient, and the Pearson 2 coefficient that compares the mean and median. The former is reported in statistical software packages, while the latter is all but forgotten in textbooks. Given its intuitive appeal, why did Pearson 2 disappear? Is it ever useful? Using Monte Carlo simulation, tables of percentiles are created for Pearson 2. It is shown that while Pearson 2 has lower power, it matches classroom explanations of skewness and can be calculated when summarized data are available. This paper suggests reviving the Pearson 2 skewness statistic for the introductory statistics course because it compares the mean to the median in a precise way that students can understand. The paper reiterates warnings about what any skewness statistic can actually tell us.

Enterprise systems are critical to organisational success and training is a critical factor for their successful implementation. With over US$84 billion invested in these systems, implementation failures can be disastrous for organisations. There is a growing realisation that, despite being touted as being critical to implementation, training is usually under-funded and scant attention is paid to designing training programmes. This exploratory study examines six training enablers that impact training success in the context of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation at a Fortune 500 organisation. We find evidence that the set of six training enablers are predictive of training success as measured by user satisfaction with training and training effectiveness. Implications of our study for researchers and the practitioner community as well as the limitations of our study and issues for future research are discussed.

Many students doubt that statistical distributions are of practical value. Simulation makes it possible for students to tackle challenging, understandable projects that illustrate how distributions can be used to answer "what-if" questions of the type often posed by analysts. Course materials that have been developed over two years of classroom trials will be shared, including (1) overviews of distributions and simulation; (2) basic capabilities of @RISK software; (3) simulation spreadsheets suitable for analysis by teams; and (4) exercises to guide the teams. These revisable materials could also be used as in-class demonstrations. Concepts illustrated include expected value, k-tiles (e.g., quartiles), empirical distributions, distribution parameters, and the law of large numbers. For those who don't have @Risk, spreadsheets are provided which demonstrate elementary risk-modeling concepts using only Excel. All materials can be downloaded from www.sba.oakland.edu/Faculty/DOANE/downloads.htm.Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher's website.

Visualising univariate data analysis visualising populations visualising Bayes' theorem visualising discrete distributions visualising continuous distributions visualising sampling visualising the Central Limit theorem visualising distributions of estimations visualising one sample hypothesis tests visualising two sample hypothesis tests visualising power and type I and type II error visualising analysis of variance visualising simple regression visualising time series data visualising bivariate data analysis visualising statistical process control.

This paper describes one program in the Teaching Statistics Visually (TSV) project. TSV supports inductive learning in introductory undergraduate applied statistics courses. The program (1) helps teach concepts rather than analyze data, (2) focuses on one module in a statistics course, (3) relies on visualization rather than formulas, (4) is easy to use, (5) is flexible, supporting different learning levels, and (6) is easy to manage, requiring commonly available resources and incorporating special features to simplify classroom use. A prototype version of the program “Comparing Two Normal Distributions” is included with this paper. The reader is invited to experiment with the program and to send comments and suggestions for improvement to the authors.

Abstract Textbooks in introductory statistics and production operations management during three time periods (1982, 1985–1988, and 1989–1992) were examined for their coverage of topics relevant to total quality management (TQM). Business statistics textbooks during the first two periods provided little coverage of quality, but there was a sharp improvement in the most recent period. Production and operations management textbooks contain much stronger coverage than statistics textbooks. Textbook publishers are addressing the growing importance of TQM, but textbooks tell only part of the story. This article identifies factors that may influence classroom coverage of TQM, suggests ways to strengthen teaching of TQM, and proposes future directions for research.

Information requirements determination for Decision Support Systems (DSS) is often inadequately handled due to premature structuring thus precluding dynamic changes in the framing of the problem by managers. A review of relevant concepts in the behavioural decision making literature is provided. Case studies from three large business organizations illustrate system problems with information requirements. The authors suggest prototyping as a more valid approach to determining information requirements.

"Using Median Splits to Motivate Learning." The College Mathematics Journal, 20(3), pp. 228–229

(1976). Aesthetic Frequency Classifications. The American Statistician: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 181-183.