Love Data Week: Turning Numbers into Love Letters

Data are often stored in tables or databases, which provide information about size and variable types but reveal little about underlying patterns. This workshop introduces graphical and numerical techniques to uncover data structure and summarize distributions effectively. 

We will explore key descriptive statistics—such as measures of central tendency (mean, median), variability (standard deviation, interquartile range) and shape (skewness, kurtosis)—alongside visual tools like histograms and boxplots. A systematic approach for examining relationships between variables will also be discussed. 

Understanding these connections is essential for designing analyses that yield meaningful insights. Early exploration of correlations plays a critical role before relating potential predictors to response variables.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:   

• Interpret and summarize data distributions using key descriptive statistics (mean, median, standard deviation, interquartile range, skewness, kurtosis).
• Visualize data effectively by creating and analyzing histograms and boxplots to uncover patterns and variability.
• Explore relationships between variables systematically through early correlation analysis to inform meaningful analytical design.

This is an online event open to all; please register to receive the link. Presentation materials and a recording will be shared with registrants after the workshop. If you have accommodation requests or questions, reach out to libevents@uwaterloo.ca with your needs.  

Please note: This is the first of four workshops for Love Data Week. You do not need to attend all four; please register for each workshop separately.

Joslin Goh is a senior statistician at the University of Waterloo’s Statistical Consulting and Survey Research unit. She specializes in the design and analysis of experiments, industrial statistics and computer experiments. In her role, Joslin leads a team of graduate students providing statistical consulting to researchers across disciplines, ensuring high-quality study design, data analysis, and interpretation. She holds a PhD and MSc in Statistics from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo. Joslin is passionate about bridging theory and practice, offering workshops and collaborative projects that empower researchers and students to apply robust statistical methods in real-world contexts.

Amy Lim is the research programs and services coordinator at the University of Waterloo Libraries. She helps coordinate workshops alongside our librarians. If you have questions about this event, please contact her at libevents@uwaterloo.ca.