Episodes

  • S5E25 Is Being a Professor the Right Fit for Me?
    May 21 2024

    In this week’s episode, our 150th and the last of season 5, Greg and Patrick hear from five people at different stages of their academic journey, who share some of their concerns about a career in academia. Along the way we also mention: deathscrolling, Patrick’s fuzzy blanket, slow motion ballerina, Twix, academia infomercial, Twitter admins, micromanaging, pilot training, young Turks at the gate, stupid shit like this, chalk holders, administrative tennis, Nietzsche, Eeyore, Kaitlin Clark assists, blizzard of information, kick the can, when the street lights come on, and water goggles.

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    52 mins
  • S5E24 Zombie Wheel of Distributions
    May 7 2024

    In this week's episode Patrick and Greg somehow manage to tie together pretending to be sick with game shows with zombies with conspiracy boards to explore the remarkable inter-relations among probability distributions, starting with the Bernoulli and biting their way through the binomial, z, t, chi-square, F, and beyond. Along the way they also discuss having a 122 degree temperature, playing with mercury, daytime TV, Paul Lynde, Vanna White, horses and plows, breeding like cats, the long con, the Swiss vs. the French, Zombieland, the Quincunx, fifth grade math, Lowly Worm, a lazy S, the double tap, and choosing free will.

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    47 mins
  • S5E23 A Rosetta Stone for DAGs and SEM
    Apr 30 2024

    In this week's episode Greg and Patrick talk about both structural equation modeling and directed acyclic graphs, or DAGs, where they are similar and where they are different, and try to provide a Rosetta Stone for translating back and forth between the two. Along the way they also discuss pop, garage sales, thinking about excessive thought, roly-polies, potato bugs, been to the cinema, sweet tea, smiley face sub-i, poop hat, the British Museum, fiberglass replicas, love languages, cave drawings, the space-time continuum, coffee shops, a DAGs Czar, We Are The World (with Cyndi Lauper), tennis shoes, and bubblers.

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    49 mins
  • S5E22 Survival Analysis in the Social Sciences: It's About Time
    Apr 23 2024

    In this week's episode Patrick and Greg explore the incredibly cool topic of survival analysis, which is a set of techniques that allows for powerful tests of predictors of the amount of time to experiencing an event; yet these models are not often used in many areas of study. Along the way they also discuss the date of your death, running with scissors, Patrick's Audi A8, because she's dead, say my name, the good guys, things that annoy me, you tell me, using your brain, sofa forts, back dating checks, logistic regression on steroids, and coming to the party late. We hope you enjoy this week's episode.

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    47 mins
  • S5E21 Multilevel Factor Analysis: But What Do The Factors Mean?!
    Apr 9 2024

    In this week's episode, Greg and Patrick talk about the challenges of combining confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel data, and the underappreciated but absolutely critical role that theory plays in choosing the proper model for your constructs. Along the way they also discuss learning in a second language, torn meniscuseseses, concert C trumpets, nosy neighbors, forts of equations, artillery commanders, saluting cadets, the huffing closet, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Rock'em Sock'em Robots, lactose intolerance, Greg's ATM PIN, our circle of friend, and configural configurations.

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    47 mins
  • S5E20 Local fit...Because Global Fit Measures Suck!
    Apr 2 2024

    In this week's episode Greg and Patrick discuss the assessment of global vs. local model fit and they argue that although global measures of fit can be useful, carefully assessing local fit may be of much greater importance in practice. Along the way the also discuss cheap beach house rentals, misplaced sand dunes, Mrs. Lincoln, the child catcher, hushpuppies, cockroach feces, academia as community theater, spikes and smoodges, opening paragraphs, dark and stormy nights, sharp rusty knives, dream teams, DAGs as religion, No Daggity, burly moles, Western Kansas, good bones, and computer defaults.

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    46 mins
  • S5E19 Item Response Theory, Q.E.D.
    Mar 19 2024

    In this week's episode Patrick and Greg provide an introduction to the Item Response Theory model: what it is, how it relates to traditional factor analysis, and how this modem approach improves upon some of the limitations of classical test theory. Along the way they also mention weinerness, memorizing Latin for punishment, eggszampke, in ether words, ITR, switching a and b, I’m not defensive - you are, why biostatisticians hate us (page 3 subsection 8), binary babble, EAPs and MAPs, computer adaptive testing on the playground, Bob’s your uncle, and the liberal arts mic drop.

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    49 mins
  • S5E18 Probability on Spring Break
    Mar 12 2024

    In this week’s episode, Patrick and Greg play with some of the basics of probability in the context of some classic, fun, and often counterintuitive examples. Along the way they also discuss arguments with relatives, a feel for the roulette wheel, Xeroxing your butt, “The coin has spoken.”, Quantitude BooqQlub, the Bellagio Fountains, Clooney and Pitt look-alikes, the Flippier, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Monty Hall, Ferraris and goats, the birthday problem, how to carve an elephant, and pick-6 lotteries.

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    44 mins