First Blog

Many are the abuses of statistics.  That one you see almost every day is about polling.  Sample size, polling, bias, conclusions are all in the mix. A. The natural desire to use correlation as causation. (Ubiquitous) B. Unwitting bias in sampling and survey structure. (Consider polls.) C. Applying multiple statistical tests until some significance is confirmed. D. Using statistical tests with sample sizes too small. (Chi-square test for example). E. Using factor analysis while not understanding what it does. (Looks good in a paper.) F. Doing the study first and then creating the null hypotheses*. (This is statistics backward. Is it ok if everybody does it?) G. Worst of all is taking statistical significance as a form of proof. (Remember that at the 0.05 level, 5% of all significance conclusions are wrong. Combine with the thousands of studies every year.) *Personally guilty.

Inconsistency and Impossible Problems Definition of INCONSISTENCY from the American Heritage Dictionary. 1. Displaying or marked by a lack of consistency, especially:         Not regular or predictable; erratic: inconsistent behavior.         Lacking in correct logical relation; contradictory: inconsistent statements.         Not in agreement or harmony; incompatible: an intersection inconsistent with the road map. 2. Mathematics. Not solvable for the unknowns by the same set of values. Used of two or more equations or inequalities. Inconsistencies in problem solutions seem to be correlated with the social competence of students.  Remarkable but apparently true. Impossible problems also arise from inconsistency.  This implies a type of conflict at the systemic level. When we have a system with inconsistent truths within, we are naturally led to impossible problems.  This can occur from regulations that are contradictory.  These can come from government agencies or industry leaders who