In article <002601bfaf29$cfbaa9a0$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
David A. Heiser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: T.S. Lim <Use-Author-Address-Header@[127.1]>
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2000 10:49 AM
>Subject: Data Mining blooper
>> While hunting for URLs for KDCentral.com, I encountered several
>> misleading statements about Statistics made by Data Mining people.
>> I've posted 3 of them to my bulletin board. If you encounter other
>> wrong remarks, I invite you to post them to the board too at
>> http://www.recursive-partitioning.com/forums
>> Thanks.
>'''.........................................................................
>...................
>This essentially supports my argument over the last few years. The
>commercial selling of overpriced black boxes generates so much profit for
>these companies that they can make any claim whatsoever, and people will buy
>it, just like in politics.
>The basic selling line is, "you may be stupid, with absolutely no knowledge
>of anything, but if you buy my overpriced $20,000 software, you become a
>noted expert in anything. You don't have to know anything to use my software
>(or vote for me, or....)". It amazes me that college graduates buy this
>hook, line and sinker. Then they ask questions on edstat about what does the
>output mean.
>DAH
It does not surprise me one bit. The typical statistics
course teaches statistical methods and pronouncements, with
no attempt to achieve understanding. How many coming out
of such a course are cognizant that a significance
statement is a statement about the probability BEFORE the
observations are taken that the null hypothesis will be
rejected? How many understand what the likelihood function
means, and why one should even consider the likelihood
principle?
If students come out of a statistics course believing that
statistics is a black box into which one puts the data, with
no assumptions, and it spews out the state of the universe,
or at least the "statistical conclusions", how could it be
expected that they NOT consider what is offered as just a
better black box.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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