SOAN 220 - A World of Data: Baseball and Statistics

Credits: 4

Prerequisite: CBSC 250, ECON 203, POL/INTR 202, SOAN 218, or SOAN 219. An introduction to the world of data and data analysis, emphasizing Bayesian methods. Taking the case of contemporary sports, with a particular focus on baseball, it teaches students how to build models of player performance while also asking important questions about the limitations of such approaches to human activities. What is gained and lost in the world made by measuring human actions in reliable ways? How is our experience in the world–in this case as athletes playing and spectators living sports–affected when we see it in terms of statistics and predictive models? What interests and what concerns make up our lives when we engage the world in this way? What interests and concerns may be obscured? The course offers a rare opportunity to acquire some expertise in producing data-driven knowledge and decisions while also reflecting on what it is like to be a non-expert living in the world shaped by such expertise.