The second sentence here ensures that generalisability to a population
IS an issue for statistics. And a big issue, usually overlooked.
For that matter, many applications of statistics do use sampling, not
random assignment (market surveys, for example) and in these
applications Dennis' observtion is spot on.
Alan
Elliot Cramer wrote:
>
> given random assignment the generalizability of results to a population is
> not an issue for statistics. It's a question of what a plausible
> population is, given the procedure for obtaining subjects
>
> On Thu, 22 Mar 2001, dennis roberts wrote:
> >
> > using and interpreting inference procedures under the assumption of SRS
> > .... simple random samples ... when they just can't be
> >
>
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--
Alan McLean ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics
Monash University, Caulfield Campus, Melbourne
Tel: +61 03 9903 2102 Fax: +61 03 9903 2007
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