[nabs-l] Statistics Class

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi Cody,
I have taken several stats courses (on my fifth one this semester, to
be exact) and I always make up my own symbols or write Greek letters
in words, i.e. "sum(x+y) or "sigma(x+y), "x-bar" etc. I have never had
any issues with this method and I think it is completely justified
because as far as I know, JAWS is unable to read Greek letters and it
is important that your homework assignments are written in a way that
makes sense to both you and the professor. You may want to go back and
review your homework as a study aid later so it is best to have it
written in a manner that JAWS can read. The only time in my researcher
life when using the right letters mattered is when I am writing a
paper for publication and in that case, it is easy to have a reader
change the word "sigma" to the actual character. But for homework or
tests, using the words should be fine.
Similarly, if an assignment requires drawing a graph or diagram, like
a histogram, I think writing a verbal description of what the graph
would look like is just fine. The professor just wants to know that
you understand what the graph should look like and, like with the
symbols, a verbal description has the advantage of being meaningful
for both you and the professor. Again, invest the time with a reader
if you are presenting the graph to other students, or writing a formal
paper with it, but if it's just homework, the main thing is to show
you understand what the graph should look like, what the relationships
are between variables, etc.
BTW, I started a new listserv on NFBNet, called
"Social-Sciences-List", where we talk about statistics among other
things. It is not very high-traffic so you may want to join it.
Best,
Arielle

On 9/10/12, Ian Perrault <iperrault at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>         Hi
> Actually, I'm also taking a Statistics class. I have a note-taker, and have
>
> the teaching assistant write me the formulas. For math signs, just have the
>
> professor write them out in words like plus, minus, equals, stuff like that.
>
> The trick is to have all the notes, concepts, and assignments in all text,
> and in as many words as possible so that you'll totally understand them.
>
>
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