mathematics

Roger Peng

Roger Peng is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Roger Peng rather than just read about it. In short: Roger D. Peng is an author and professor of Statistics and Data Science at the University of Texas at Austin.

Key takeaways

Roger Peng belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Roger Peng to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Roger Peng from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Roger D. Peng is an author and professor of Statistics and Data Science at the University of Texas at Austin. Peng originally received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Yale University in 1999, before going on to study at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he completed a Master of Science in Statistics in 2001 and a PhD in Statistics in 2003. The focus of his research has been on environmental health, specifically focusing on air pollution and climate change in his research. Peng is also a software engineer who has authored numerous R packages focused on applying statistical methods necessary for a variety of topics. He has also created numerous resources including books, online courses, podcasts, blogs, and other articles to aid those learning data analysis.

Career Peng has written or contributed to ten different books, including R Programming for Data Science, which lays the foundation for using the R programming language. He, along with Jeff Leek and Rafa Irizarry, actively contribute to Simply Statistics, a website containing courses, articles, interviews, blog posts, and other materials for statisticians and those interested in data focused on various biostatistics topics. Peng and Leek join Brian Caffo as co-creators of the Data Science Specialization massive open online course (MOOC) offered through Johns Hopkins University, which is a collection of courses geared towards individuals seeking to develop skills in data science and data analysis. Peng is the co-host with Hilary Parker of the data science podcast Not So Standard Deviations. Parker and Peng also have co-authored Conversations on Data Science, which compiles many of the topics covered on their podcast, as well as other discussions related to data science. Peng actively contributes journal articles to several publications, most commonly related to providing evidence to the prevalence of air pollution. He has written on the importance of creating reproducible research and the practice of using various statistical methods.

Awards Peng's work in biostatistics, especially related to environmental health, has led to numerous awards. In 2016, Peng received the American Public Health Association Mortimer Spiegelman Award to honor his contributions to public health statistics, given to a member under the age of 40. Additionally, Peng has received several awards for his publications, including multiple honors for NIEHS Extramural Paper of the Month. In 2017, Peng was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roger Peng

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roger Peng claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Roger Peng before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Roger Peng ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Roger Peng

In research: Roger Peng appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Roger Peng in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Roger Peng is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American statisticians, Biostatisticians, Fellows of the American Statistical Association, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roger Peng outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Roger Peng in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Roger Peng means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Roger Peng out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roger Peng in simple terms?

Roger D. Peng is an author and professor of Statistics and Data Science at the University of Texas at Austin.

Why does Roger Peng matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Roger Peng?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Roger Peng.