Personal Ad Content Analysis Teaches Statistical Applications

Abstract

Students analyzed newspaper personal advertisements for the age preferences of younger and older male and female writers. Several applications of the F statistic revealed between-group preferences for partners of relatively different ages. Many applications of the r statistic revealed within-group preferences for partners of absolutely similar ages. Students communicated this formal statistical information in a written report. Subsequently, most students rated the personal ads as interesting and as giving the impression of working with real people. Success on final examination computational items (including naming degrees of freedom and probabilities) exceeded 90%. A separate quantitative assessment revealed a reliable increase in mastery of r and F statistical notation and concepts from before to after the project.