Re: How to determine if a number is statistically meaningful

From: Paige Miller (paige.miller_at_kodak.com)
Date: 03/24/05 

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 08:22:48 -0500

davegb wrote:
> I've gotten some excellent food for thought here. Beginning to get that
> what I'm asking is not simple at all. It's beyond the limits of what I
> can do for this purpose.

I came to the exact opposite conclusion reading the replies. What
you are trying to do *FIRST* requires subject matter expertise, not
statistics. If that's beyond the limits of what you can do, then the
problem is unapproachable.

> I'm beginning to realize that if I took the
> time to apply the concepts I've encountered here, I still wouldn't be
> able to explain or present it in terms my end-users would comprehend.

Another SERIOUS problem, and the way you state things, it sounds
like you still feel the problem is entirely statistical. It is not.
In any research I have been involved in, defining the problem is the
first step, and normally once those definitions are in place,
everyone comprehends them. Defining the problem clearly *CAN* be
done without resorting to statistical analyses or statistical
methods of any kind.

> We'll have to get along with what we have.
> I want to thank Richard, Paige, Bob and xhos for your time and
> patience. I've avoided the field of statistics for years because it
> always seemed hard to grasp and harder to apply (This from a graduate
> of one of the toughest and best engineering schools in the world.) I
> admire those of you who can grasp and apply it!

Good luck to you. 

-- 
Paige Miller
Eastman Kodak Company
paige dot miller at kodak dot com
http://www.kodak.com
"It's nothing until I call it!" -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
"When you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance" 
-- Lee Ann Womack

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