Applied research the smart way
Although we may use the define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC) mnemonic to help guide us through our problem solving, that doesn't really give us a lot of specific direction (as I bemoan in my Top 10 Stupid Six Sigma Tricks No. 4). Good experimental design technique is critical to being able to turn problems into solutions, and in my experience Black Belts have not been introduced to a good process to do this. If you know someone whose first thought is, "Let's go collect some data to see what is going on," then read on to avoid losing millions of dollars in experimental mistakes.
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Written by Steven Ouellette
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Thursday, 04 November 2010 14:49 |
Rules for statistical thinking
I know we have been talking about statistics a lot in my last few articles, but recent reader comments have prompted me to think more about why doing statistics properly matters. Come with me, dear reader, on a journey to find out why you should embrace, and not run screaming from, your inner statistical geek. But to get there, we have some interesting terrain to cover… starting with the human brain.
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Written by Steven Ouellette
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Sunday, 10 October 2010 14:32 |
The power of the central limit theorem
Throughout the last couple of articles, I have explained and illustrated that understanding the random sampling distribution (RSD) of a statistic is key to understanding the entire basis of inferential statistics. Which is just a fancy way of saying “avoiding career-terminating decisions.” This month I’ll show you how the central limit theorem is your best friend, statistically speaking.
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Written by Steven Ouellette
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Thursday, 09 September 2010 14:20 |
Random sampling distribution are really something delightful
Last month I wrote about how the random sampling distribution (RSD) of various sample statistics are the basis for pretty much everything in statistics. If you understand RSDs, you understand a lot about why we do what we do in hypothesis testing, inferential statistics, and estimation of confidence intervals. Understanding RSDs gives you a huge advantage as you seek to use data in business, so let's take a closer look.
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Written by Steven Ouellette
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Monday, 30 August 2010 13:51 |
Every answer to statistical problems lies within RSD
As I was teaching class the other day, I told the students I was going to reveal to them the one secret they needed to learn to understand every statistical test they would ever use. The secret was the one thing that would make statistics more of a reasonable science than a bunch of equations to memorize, the one thing they needed to pass my class. (OK, there is a lot more needed to pass the class, but without this one thing doing so is a lot harder.)
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This article was originally published in InsideSixSigma, a bi-weekly online newsletter published by Quality Digest.
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Six Sigma Heretic
