Abstract #300445

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JSM 2003 Abstract #300445
Activity Number: 377
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2003 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
Abstract - #300445
Title: Putting the Horse before the CART: Focus on Data Acquisition
Author(s): Gerald J. Hahn*+ and Necip Doganaksoy
Companies: RPI and GE
Address: 1404 Orlyn Dr., Schenectady, NY, 12309-1214,
Keywords: education ; introductory course ; survey sampling ; data cleaning ; data gathering ; design of experiments
Abstract:

Getting the right data for both routine operations and special investigations is a critical part of our jobs and one that is given insufficient emphasis in our training programs. We propose a formal process (Define, Evaluate, Understand, Plan and Monitor) and a comprehensive course for data acquisition. Ideally, this course would be the second semester of a one-year introduction to applied statistics for practitioners and aspiring statisticians. If practitioners are limited to one semester, we suggest roughly one-third of that course be about data acquisition. We also urge discussion in all courses on how the data used in examples are obtained. The recommended new course begins with a discussion of the inadequacy of historical data, the difference between analytic and enumerative studies, and the proposed process for data acquisition. It includes an overview of key concepts and practical considerations in the design of experiments and survey sampling, and in the development of both general and specialized data gathering systems. Other topics are sample size determination and data cleaning. Student-generated investigations, as proposed by Bill Hunter, will conclude the course.

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