On Oct 13, 2008, at 5:54 PM, Perelman, Michael wrote:
George Sigler said that anecdotes do not constitute data. He was
probably right, but today I would like to think differently.
Well, it depends on what we call "data", doesn't it? I think this
often blindly repeated clever maxim means statistically employable
(some might choose the stronger: "valid") data to be used as the
empirical basis for broad generalisation. Well, fine. But that is not
the only usage or meaning of the term. Data, for me and my fellow
geeks, is input, including many bits of fact, that we can chomp on
programmatically, and it is not always used to carry out induction(s).
A truthful anecdote can serve various productive functions in
analysis. IMHO.
--ravi
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion.
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