Friday 12 June 2009

Experimental Control Vs Statistical Control

This paper HERE, is a very thought provoking old paper dealing with what statistical procedures are suitable for single -subject studies.

One of the interesting thoughts is the role of Experimental Control Vs Statistical Control of variability.

Measurement Scientists build expertise in Experimental Control – they build equipment, modify instruments, write software understand their system. They do not undertake hypothesis driven activities using “traditional” statistical inference approaches such as Null Hypotheses (H0) and Alternative Hypotheses (HA). They are mainly physicists. This skillset is very specific to a given experimental technique and is generally NOT transferable.

Data Scientists build expertise in Statistical Control. They design experiments, calculate the power of an experiment. They undertake hypothesis driven activities using “traditional” statistical inference approaches. They are mainly mathematicians or statisticians. This skillset is very generic and transferable.