A recent post by my Stats-teacher friend Anthony, “Wisdom of the Crowd“, reminded me of an estimation activity I have used many times in my 9th grade Stats class. The activity is based on a chapter from John Allen Paulos’ book A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper.
You’ll need two groups of students; 2 different classes will do. Each student uses an index card or a scrap of paper to write responses to 2 survey questions. I warn the students beforehand that the questions may seem strange: just do your best to answer as best you can.
- Question 1: Do you believe the population of Argentina is MORE or LESS than 10 million people?
- Question 2: Estimate the population of Argentina.
Allow a few moments between the questions for the inevitable blank stares and mumbling. Then collect the responses.
For the second group, you will ask the same two questions, except that the first question will replace 10 million with 50 million. After you have data from both groups, write it on the board or print it and hand it out. It’s time to analyze and compare. Challenge students to communicate thoughts about center and spread. Also, which group’s data do they feel does a better job of estimating question 2? It’s a neat activity, and while you will receive some strange responses as estimates, and students will generally guess higher on question 2 if they have been anchored to the 50 million number. Some guidelines for this activity are avilable. Have fun!
According to Google, the actual population of Argentina is around 41 million.
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One reply on “Estimation and Anchoring”
Brilliant. I spent years teaching statistics and although I did many off-beat things this one never occurred to me.