Not Another Toyota Article!The better your reputation for quality, the more you get slammed from an adverse event
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 08:07
With the announcement of another Toyota recall, it seems that everyone and their dog have an opinion about Toyota, and some of them might even be drawing the right conclusions. While everyone is allowed to have opinions (not the dogs—on quality… Statistical Correlation Does Not Always Prove CauseBlack Belt or not, common sense is quite rare
Thu, 01/13/2011 - 16:00
After my last column citing some really bizarre flaws in how our brains perceive reality, I thought I might cover some flaws in logic that are applicable in the world of quality. So, basically, even if our brains are working correctly, we can still… Embracing Your Inner GeekRules for statistical thinking
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 06:00
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… Making Decisions in a Non-Normal WorldThe power of the central limit theorem
Sun, 10/10/2010 - 09:26
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… (Sample) Size MattersRandom sampling distribution are really something delightful
Thu, 09/09/2010 - 08:51
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,… The Omnipotence of Random Sampling DistributionEvery answer to statistical problems lies within RSD
Tue, 08/03/2010 - 06:00
Story update 10/05/2010: Corrections were made to captions for Figures 6, 7, 8, 9.
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… Know the Process Before Altering Its SpecificationsYou must balance risk and benefits when determining acceptability.
Mon, 06/21/2010 - 06:00
So I thought I was done with measurement system analysis after my last column, but I just finished reading Don Wheeler’s June 1 column, “Is the Part in Spec?” and the first thing I thought was, “Well, that was… complicated and ultimately unhelpful… Destructive Gauges and Measurement System AnalysisCan they co-exist?
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 07:30
We have recently covered a lot of ground on the topic of measurement system analysis (MSA). We talked about the basics of MSA, the potential study, the short-term study, and the long-term study. At this point you should have a pretty firm… Performing a Long-Term MSA StudyTesting through time stability
Tue, 03/23/2010 - 11:40
A
hh, measurement system analysis—the basis for all our jobs because, as Lord Kelvin said, “… When you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind.” How interesting it is then,… Performing a Short-Term MSA StudyGauging your conformance decisions
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 08:23
In the past couple of articles, we have been having fun together testing whether a measurement device is usable for the crazy purpose of determining if we are actually making product in or out of specification. Last month, we performed a…
