Describing Data, what do you mean? 

Describing Data, what do you mean?

Below is an exerpt from an article appearing in Discover Magazine in 1985 written by Stephan Jay Gould.
In 1982, I learned I was suffering from a rare and serious cancer. After surgery, I asked my doctor what the best technical literature on the cancer was. She told me, with a touch of diplomacy, that there was nothing really worth reading. I soon realized why she had offered that humane advice: my cancer is incurable, with a median mortality of eight months after discovery.
The problem may be briefly stated: What does "median mortality of eight months" signify in our vernacular? I suspect that most people, without training in statistics, would read such a statement as "I will probably be dead in eight months" ....
I'd like for you to discuss the following topics related to this excerpt.
· What does a median mortality of eight months mean? And if you have cancer, how should you interpret it?
· Is this information about the median useful to you? Why or why not?
· What information would be useful to you?
· Is any "statistical information" about cancer mortality useful to you?

New Message to the class! I have extended the deadline for Friday postings this week to Sunday night. Today you can either make a contribution to the discussion, or make a summary post, or both! Remember to include the word "SUMMARY" in your summary post.
The summary post should tell me what the main statistical concepts were in this problem, and how you addressed them. You don't need to give me a running commentary of what the group did. Mostly, I want you to tell me what you think you were supposed to learn and what you learned by talking about this topic.

Comentário:
Meu interesse pelos artigos de Stephan Jay Gould, e seus livros não foi à toa!