Data-based Methods and the Statistical Thinking Approach

About This Project

As part of our practice improvement techniques, the overall statistical thinking approach requires merging data-based methods with the subject matter knowledge in an iterative fashion. We generally gather data to verify or refute existing hypotheses. Based on the data analysis, we typically modify those hypotheses in our effort to produce the predicted results. Obviously, this often leads to further questions that need to be verified or refuted continuing the iterative cycle of the hypothesis. Recall that data have no meaning in themselves; they take on meaning only in the context of some conceptual model of the process being studied.