Lost in Translation, the Statistics Edition

If you speak multiple languages, then you're very much aware of words that easily get lost in translation. If you speak "Statistics," this happens just the same. Students tell me that one of the hardest things about learning Statistics is the vocabulary, learning and using the terminology correctly. Being a Statistics teacher has made me increasingly aware of certain statistical vocabulary that students, and people in general, use that often don't mean exactly what they think they mean.

Here are five statistical words and concepts that I think can sometimes get lost in translation:

The Wandering Point, Updated

One of my favorite activities from the Stats: Modeling the World teaching materials is "The Wandering Point" class activity to look at the influence of points on correlation and linear regression. My students always get a lot of out it and I think it lends itself to a high level of student engagement. I have since adapted* this activity to incorporate the new regression function of Desmos as well as some modifications to enhance student understanding.