Out of curiosity for SEO, here are some key stats about our coverage of the InTrade CEO‘s horrific death. Note that these stats don’t encompass the frontpage readers and the feed subscribers (so, we would add many hundreds more, actually). And that only one webpage (out of the many we wrote on the topic) is counted.

“The concept of country of origin for manufactured goods has gradually become obsolete.”

“In a speech in September in New York, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao cited that research to argue that trade tensions between the U.S. and China are overblown.”

UPDATE: Criticism.

In summary, “momentum” can exist, but the places where you’ll see it is in races where current public opinion is out of step with best predictions. The mere information that a race has a 5-point swing is not enough to predict a future shift in that direction. As Nate emphasizes, such a prediction is only appropriate in the context of real-world information, hypotheses of “factors above and beyond the direction in which the polls have moved in the past.”

- As an appendix, and on another topic, compare Justin Wolfers’s naive view on genders with Steve Blank’s informed viewpoint.

Don’t Create Standards You Will Find Hard to Maintain Yourself.

Be Honest.

Understand That There’s Much More to Being a Good Pollster.

Appreciate Innovation.

Do Some Polling.

Nate Silver responds.

UPDATE: Prof Andrew Gelman’s take.

ALEXANDRIA VA, MAY 14, 2009 – Felix Salmon, a well known financial blogger who writes extensively about statistics, has been named the recipient of the 2010 Excellence in Statistical Reporting Award (ESRA) of the American Statistical Association (ASA). Salmon does quantitative, statistically minded reporting on topics ranging from the costs of counterfeiting to bank fraud to Nigerian spammers

ASA’s ESRA Committee selected Salmon “for his body of work, which exemplifies the highest standards of scientific reporting,” according to the award citation. “His insightful use of statistics as a tool to understanding the world of business and economics, areas that are critical in today’s economy, sets a new standard in statistical investigative reporting.”

Salmon came to the United States in 1997 from England, where he worked at Euromoney magazine. He also wrote daily commentary on Latin American markets for the former news service Bridge News, freelanced for a variety of publications, helped set up the New York bureau of a financial web site, and created the Economonitor blog for Roubini Global Economics. He has been blogging since 1999 and wrote the Market Movers blog for Portfolio.com. Salmon currently blogs at Thomson Reuters. ( http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/ ). He is a graduate of the University of Glasgow.

Previous winners of the ESRA include Sharon Begley, Newsweek magazine; Mark Buchanan, freelance science writer; Gina Kolata, New York Times; and John Berry, Bloomberg News.

The ESRA was created to encourage and recognize members of the communications media who have best displayed an informed interest in the science of statistics and its role in public life. The award can be given for a single statistical article or for a body of work. In selecting the recipient, consideration is given to:
Correctness, clarity, fairness, brevity, and professionalism of the communication
Importance, relevance and overall effectiveness in impacting the intended audience
Impact on the growth and national or regional exposure of statistics
Appreciation and emphasis of the statistical aspects of a particular issue or event
Excellent coverage of research on statistics or statistical issues

About the American Statistical Association
The American Statistical Association (ASA), a scientific and educational society founded in Boston in 1839, is the second oldest continuously operating professional society in the United States. For 170 years, ASA has been providing its 18,000 members serving in academia, government, and industry and the public with up-to-date, useful information about statistics. The ASA has a proud tradition of service to statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users of statistics across a wealth of academic areas and applications. For additional information about the American Statistical Association, please visit the association’s web site at http://www.amstat.org or call 703.684.1221.

FAQ

More.

Via Prof Panos.

UPDATE: Prof Panos has more.

In part #2, he speaks about the books he is writing: