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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But the agreement I was hoping for on data use/collection was that you'd put a little more thought into what you're trying to measure and how best to do that.  You tend to start with easily available data and graft on (and/or encourage others to graft on) theses it doesn't support.[/quote]
I agree that I start with easily available data, but I don't understand your accusation that I graft on theses the data doesn't support.  Could you please give me an example of when I've done that?  As for thinking about what I want to measure, I welcome your thoughts on what I should measure and how best to accomplish that.  You seem to think I have some grand thesis I'm trying to push with this data.  But I don't.  I just try to collect the data and see where it leads without any preconceived plans.

[quote]And I think you shouldn't make judgments about the data based on guesswork re last names, ...[/quote]
Fair enough.  I hated doing that because I don't like relying on naming stereotypes to foreclose the possibility that a last name like "Jones" or "Baker" might actually be a Chinese exchange student with an atypical name.  But I'm fairly confident in my assumption.  And really, can you claim you didn't do the exact same thing when you searched for which names on the AMC lists might be Chinese exchange students?  Or did you honestly search to see whether every name on those lists (even ones like "Baker") might be Chinese exchange students?

[quote]... especially when doing so involves suggesting that another poster ... who, in this case, turned out to know more than you did, is blowing smoke/lying.  ....  But when someone makes an empirical claim and suggests you investigate, maybe you should treat it was a more open mind and a little more diligence before you blow them off.[/quote]
I don't think this criticism is fair.  The original claim about Chinese exchange students is one you may describe as "empirical," but I'd say it was completely unsubstantiated since no support was included, so I don't see where I have any obligation to investigate it.  Once someone chimed in the say "check the archives," my response was to ask for an explanation of what/where I should check (3/9@8:08), and to explain my reasoning (i.e., that most of the AMC names don't appear to be Asian so are unlikely to be Chinese exchange students).

I acknowledged early in this discussion (3/9@8:08) that some of the commended students could be visiting, and it appears some are (and many are not).  I appreciate your digging for answers.  Perhaps if the other PP had provided some basic support for her original claim, I might not have criticized her so quickly.  In re-reading her one-liner comment though, I still detect an undercurrent of denigrating the school's entire math program, which still gets under my skin because it's precisely the sort of unsubstantiated claim that caused me to start tracking data in the first place.  Perhaps she did not mean it that way, and I am too quick to condemn others.  Maybe she will come back to explain herself.

Your earlier comments seem to focus on local math contests, other AMC years, and the need for additional data in other areas.  I hope you will follow up by gathering and summarizing some new data.  [/quote]

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