Young Statisticians Section/ Significance Writing Competition What's the point of a point estimate? Why statistics lectures confuse students

摘要

It is about 3.30 on a Thursday afternoon when my phone beeps to let me know that I've got a new text message. Without looking, I can guess who it's from and what it will say. 'I hate statistics!!!' flashes up on my phone. The three exclamation marks emphasise the point. I guessed the message would say as much because Thursday afternoon is when one of my friends has his weekly statistics lectures. The lectures aren't going well so these texts are a fairly regular occurrence!