On Sun, Jun 05, 2005 at 11:02:47AM -0700, Todd Walton wrote: > On 6/5/05, David J. Looney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Todd Walton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > "Data" is not the plural of "anecdote". > > > > Anyone have an origin, other than their 7th grade science teacher ? > > Yeah, I felt a little bad for not attributing it. But I figure it's > such a common phrase among this type of people that attribution isn't > entirely warranted anyway. > > This page: > http://www.sysprog.net/quotdata.html > > says that it belongs to Frank Kotsonis, whoever that is. > > -todd
I have a problem with this. It's a cute saying and a good reminder to all of us to be scrupulous in our data collection, but it's also not really true. In medicine, which is where I got my original scientific grounding, the case study is the fundamental unit of published observations. There is a strict structure to a good case study. It's a far cry from a patient testimonial (I still will listen to those, but with much more caution). But case studies are important, and they're basically anecdotal. Gather enough of them, and you have data. Just another voice chiming in. Looney might want to remark, and I'll listen. -- Lan Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] Linux Guy, SCM Specialist 858-354-0616 -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
