At 6:10 PM -0700 11/27/07, Robert Hoekman, Jr. wrote: > > Do you think analyzing data using tools like Omniture and Coremetrics >> should >> fall under the user experience umbrella? > > >Definitely falls under UX. So much can be learned about human behavior from >stats, it's unreal. And stats don't lie, which is more than we can say about >humans (even when these "lies" are unintentional). > >-r-
Oh dear. Oh my. If you're consulting a statistician who can't make any set of data say anything you want them to say then you should find a better statistician. Of course statistics lie. Statistics properly manipulated can tell you just about anything about anyone in any situation. It's like the old joke about the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant: When you ask how much money you made last year a bookkeeper will answer the question and the accountant will ask you how much money you want to have made. Data don't have meaning without context and context is amazingly flexible. To give just a few examples that leap to my mind whenever someone says that statistics don't lie I cite the following: A study early in the co-education process of a previously all men's college that said 1/3 of all women admitted had married faculty members. Mind you there were only 6 women who'd been admitted and the social life of the college was all frat based and they imported girls for events, thank you very much. Both the male faculty in question were also brand new PhDs. As we all know, 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Except that they don't and they never have. One year in the early 60s a study was done which noticed that in a particular year there would be 50% as many divorces as marriages. You'll never find anyone (except me) who will call your attention to the fact that those data are unrelated to the conclusion. The point is not that the numbers are wrong, nor are they apparently "false" but both of them are intended to elucidate the behavior of a certain group of people under certain circumstances but tell us absolutely nothing about human behavior except that in the US (at least) we tend to believe things if there are numbers attached to it. There are a million examples...many much more pointed than these...and books are constantly being written on the application and misapplication of statistics, but the central fact remains: If you want someone to believe what you're saying, find a number that seems to support it. Katie -- ---------------- Katie Albers [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
