This is an online version of the presentation given on February 15, 2008. The abstract for the talk is given below, but some details of the online version differ from the abstract.

1. INTRODUCTION
2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE THREE STOOGES
3. POPULAR CULTURE AS A PEDAGOGICAL AID
4. ARE THE THREE STOOGES STILL RELEVANT?
5. ARE THE THREE STOOGES WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING?
6. STATISTICAL TESTS
7. THE HYPOTHESIS
8. AN EXAMPLE OF A STATISTICAL TEST
9. DATA GATHERING
10. OTHER STOOGE APPLICATIONS
11. POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
12. REFERENCES

Abstract. A common approach to engaging students in the undergraduate class room, is to present them with a topic from popular culture and to interpret the topic in light of the academic area at hand. The presenters will use films of the Three Stooges to provide data for students in a introductory statistics class (some version of which is offered in many disciplines). This will allow students to experience the difficulty in designing an experiment, the problems inherent to data collection, and the analysis of collected data.

Are the Stooges still relevant and widely known? According to recent surveys, more Americans (and more American teenagers) can identify the Three Stooges than can identify the three branches of government or three of the Supreme Court justices. The intent of these surveys is not to reflect the popularity of the Three Stooges in our current culture but, none-the-less, the surveys do show that the Three Stooges are as well known as ever.

Are the Stooges worthy of consideration in an academic setting? In fact, the Stooges have been the subject of several academic studies over the past 15 to 20 years. However, the studies were primarily aimed at sociological and cultural issues. As far as we know, this is the first proposal to use the Three Stooges in a statistical or mathematical class room study.

The presenters will give some Stooge history based on interviews of original members of the Three Stooges. This will allow them to pose a reasonable hypothesis concerning the level and target of violence in the Stooges films over the years. Parts of relevant films (which are widely available on Youtube) will then be viewed, the audience will participate in hands-on data gathering, and the difficulties of this experience will be discussed by the group. Relevant statistical formulae will be presented and the formulae will be used to analyze the hypothesis with TI graphing calculators.

Finally, a data set based on the presenter's previously collected data collection will be given and the audience will have the opportunity to "crunch the numbers" on this data. In the conclusion of the presentation, the audience and presenters will discuss their impressions of the data collection, the interpretation experience, and possible applications of the Three Stooges as a data source in other academic areas. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

Return to the Three Stogoes Statistics webpage.

Return to Bob Gardner's webpage.