Deviation from my usual posts this time around, I had a bit of an epiphanal moment after class today and need to get this down, somewhere, before I loose it. To bring everyone up to speed, I'm taking a few brush-up classes in areas I'm weak in, and will need, for grad school. This semester is Statistics, Trigonometry and Micro-Economics. I've taken stats before, but it was more of a crash-course kinda thing and didn't really look at any probability stuff.
So, to recap a few things, I went into stats knowing all about mean, variance and standard deviation, and how they relate to a sample. So, today I learned how to extrapolate means, variances and standard deviations from a population model, based on binomial probability. Yes yes yes, basic stats I know, bear with me. Ok, so granted that I'm still bound by binomial principles (binary result, finite sample, independent results, etc.), but even within this, I still have a hefty range of questions that I can project, and then TEST!!!
Combine this with the economics I'm digging my heels into (just finished covering demand, supply and elasticity) and I've got a potential formula for coming up with a possible model for determining economic impacts of non-monogamous family units, and of doing some basic tests on the model. This is big, huge, monstrous. I've been grappling with ways of studying non-monogamy in a way that is both practically and politically meaningful, and I think I've got a gateway here.
Unfortunately I'll need to put this idea on hold until I finish my current study (state-by-state assessment), especially considering that my knowledge of how to actually study stuff like this is limited, at best. I'm thinking this is an excellent thing to dig into for my graduate work, when I'm surrounded by people who are familiar with these kinds of studies, and can help me address my research properly.
Either way, I'm very enthused at the possibilities here! (-:
- Jason
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