The role of statistics

[mark.wilcox@homecall.co.uk]

Hi all,
The recent discussions regarding statistics and the so-called Deming Philosophy are quite interesting. However, I would like to be a touch controversial about the role of statisticts - or perhaps I should say the role of statisticians in this debate.  
We should remember that Shewhart was trained in physics and read widely, including of course, "Mind and The World Order" based on a pragmatic theory of knowledge. I refer now, specifically to Shewhart (Deming ed) 1939:pp 63-70 where he discusses how scientists, engineers and statisticians work together, or co-operate. 
The problem, as he saw it, was that scientist would be concerned with getting data from his experiments in order to make predictions. 
"The statistician as a rule not knowing any too much science and the scientist not knowing too much statistics, the two have often gotten together and agreed, as it were, that the phrase "same essential conditions" can be taken as a password between the two groups" p.65 (note see Lewis on Common Concepts for common understanding)
And later on..
"The statistician's work soley as a statistician begins after the scientist has satisfied himself through the application of control criteria that the sample has arisen under statistically controlled conditions. The case is something like the old story of Pat, the Irishman, who had been in this country only a few months and in the meantime had located a job as a hod carrier when his friend Mike arrived. "Pat," says Mike, "and what are you doing?" To which Pat answered, "Sure I have an easy job. I carry the bricks up four flights of stairs and the man there does all the work." In much the same sense the scientist must carry his data through several control criteria before handing them over to the statistician to use in setting tolerances" p70. (Who says this stuffs boring to read!)
Needless to say, Shewhart and Deming were writing for practical audiences. The former thought that engineers were the ones with practical experience who used their intuition and judgement to make practical decisions in the workplace. 

  So DENizens "hod carriers or bricklayers"? 

Mark
      

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