Advance your skills with JMP case studies

[#1]

Case studies are a great way to grow your analytic skills, whether you’re a student or a working professional. In this post, I’ll discuss some of the benefits of case studies for adult learners and where to find JMP case studies.

Case studies appeal to adult learners

Adults learn differently than children. In the 1970s, Malcolm Knowles developed the field of andragogy, the study of how adults learn and articulated four principles. With respect to their learning, adults:

• Are internally motivated and self-directed.
• Bring life experience and knowledge to learning.
• Want to learn what is immediately relevant to their job/careers.
• Prefer a problem-centered approach (rather than content-centered).

Case studies are based on real-world problems and show how statistical methods can be applied in practical settings. Case studies are available from many sources and allow learners to target their specific needs, be it application area, statistical approach, or JMP navigation. Learning by example is a tried-and-true method for solving an immediate problem or to enhance your skills in a short time period.

Where to find JMP case studies

Here are some places you can find case studies to meet your needs:

• The JMP Case Study Library can be indexed by topic (e.g., Business Statistics, Health Care and Quality Improvement) or by method (e.g., Predictive Modeling, Descriptive and Exploratory).
• In the JMP User Community, you will find the JMP versions of the case studies developed for the American Statistical Association’s Welcome to Stats 101: A Resource for Teaching Introductory Statistics.
• Our new casebook, Data Management and Analysis Using JMP: Health Care Case Studies, contains 13 cases that cover the traditional introductory statistics course topics. Each case opens with a table that lists the statistical and data management concepts and JMP features covered. An example is shown below.

Statistical Concepts	Data Management Concepts	JMP Features
Descriptive statistics Data visualization χ2 test of independence Validating assumptions	Treatment of missing data Aggregating variables	Fit Y by X Recode Categorical Tabulate

This allows users to easily identify relevant cases.

Let me know how you’ve been using case studies to advance your skills. In my next post, I’ll share thoughts on using case studies in the classroom.