The best stats you've ever seen

I am really glad that data visualization is the topic for this week's blog post because a few weeks ago I saw Hans Rosling's TED talk called The best stats you've ever seen, and he presented that best statistics I have ever seen! I urge anyone who reads this post to watch this TED talk because it is amazing, but if you do not have the time, I will briefly discuss why I think it was so amazing. The main reason why I respect this video is that Rosling adds time to his presentation, so he can illustrate how it is difficult to generalize findings. For example, in the 1960s life expectancy for people living in China was extremely low comparing to the life expectancy of people living in Canada, but now the life expectancy of people living in China is almost equivalent to people living in Canada.

As I watched this presentation, I became so engrossed that I even wished to watch some parts again, thankfully Rosling responded to my wish with some instant replays, see image.


On the other hand, someone could argue that adding time to the presentation of statistics is either not relevant to certain types of research or not a feasible option for many researchers. I do understand the merit of these two objections but I want to be a salsa dancing researcher who welcomes complexity like a hot shower after a bike ride home in the rain. To put my response more practically, I think adding the complexity of history will help frame any research question and videos of statistics like Rosling's video will be welcome at any conference.

References

Rosling, H. (2006, June). Hans Rosling: The best stats you've ever seen [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html