Statistically speaking

Statistics. The mere mention of the word is enough to send shivers down many spines. I too was apprehensive at first, but eventually decided that the alternative was slightly more unpleasant. The result is my semester opening with a morning lecture on 'socio-spatial analysis' (aka GEO231, or simply 'that statistics module').

An introduction to the module, an amusing demonstration involving volunteers (*cough*), and a recap of GEO152 later, a very obvious but nevertheless essential nugget of information was revealed:

Socio-spatial analysis tackles what first-year statistics cannot.

I know. 'Tis annoyingly simple, but this is what the whole module is about really - going beyond prim, two-demensional datasets into the chaos of Real Life Situations Where Variables Are Abound. And with any luck, we will learn to make them variables behave.

I must say...I'm glad I chose GEO231!

By the looks of things, this module promises great potential. Let's see where it takes us.