Statistics Spotlight

2011
Statistics Roundtable: Use What You Know
Engineers and managers often must make important decisions in situations in which there is substantial uncertainty because of limited data. In some such cases, the data analyses can be bolstered by incorporating engineering knowledge and experience....
Statistics Roundtable: Under the Limit
Engineers often encounter a wide spectrum of issues pertaining to the data they collect from experiments. A particular problem of concern arises when the quantity to be measured falls below the detection limit of the measuring apparatus....
Statistics Roundtable: Taking Stock
Recently, there has been exciting discussion about statistical engineering and its potential to redefine the role of statisticians and increase our influence in business through expanded participation in decision-making for high-impact problems....
Statistics Roundtable: Not Significant, But Important?
In March 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that even if a result from a controlled clinical trial was not statistically significant, it still might be important....
Statistics Roundtable: Complaint Department
PERHAPS YOU KNOW what goes on in most corporate complaint departments. Given euphemistic names such as “consumer affairs” and “consumer response,” their business is still the same....
Statistics Roundtable: Proper Blending
Since we proposed the idea and theory behind statistical engineering, we’re often asked: “Is it just another term for traditional applied statistics?” That’s a legitimate question....
Statistics Roundtable: Influence and Effect
Being able to determine the effect a data point has on summary statistics provides useful insight into the construction of better parameter estimators....
Statistics Roundtable: The Sin of Spin
We live in an age in which media and marketing often spin data and end up misleading and misinforming the consumer....
Statistics Roundtable: Knowing There Are Unknowns
DO THE ITEMS that people carry in their pockets or purses make them more likely to develop cancer? In an epidemiological study on the development of lung cancer in the population, is carrying matches an important variable?...
Statistics Roundtable: Why Statisticians Model Data
What follows is an apology. Not an apology as in “I’m sorry,” but an apology as a justification or explanation. You might be thinking it shouldn’t be necessary to explain why statisticians model data. It is just their nature....
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