How To's > Work with Statistical Objects > Use Sliders to Vary Summary Information in a Statistical Object

Use Sliders to Vary Summary Information in a Statistical Object

You can use statistical inference objects to explore what-if's, such as, "What happens to the p-value when the standard deviation changes?" or "How does sample size affect the width of a confidence interval?" To do so, you use a formula that refers to a slider for a field in a statistical object.

1. Create a slider by dragging one from the shelf or choosing Object | New | Slider.

2. Give the slider a meaningful name by double-clicking its default name, typing a new name (such as StDev), and pressing Enter or Return.

3. Double-click the field in the test or estimate that you want governed by a slider (shown at right for the standard deviation).

4. Choose Edit | Edit Formula.

5. Enter the slider's name, either by typing it or by double-clicking it from the Global Values section of the formula editor's Functions list.

6. Close the formula editor by pressing Enter or Return or clicking OK.

Notice that the computed value is now gray, indicating it is driven by a formula.

Now, when you drag the slider's thumb or animate it, the statistical object recomputes its results. You can collect these results in a measures collection and graph multiple results to explore relationships.


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