Statistics Denial Myths

Unknown to most marketing researchers, there have been tensions between the statistical and computer science communities in recent years.

Happily, much of the tension has been generated by a handful of bloggers with little knowledge of statistics or who have, for commercial reasons, misrepresented statisticians and the field itself. Though most hard hat statisticians (like me) and hard hat computer scientists get along just fine, some of these bloggers are taken seriously and thus cannot be ignored…even if what they say is nonsense.

MR Realities guest, the indefatigable Randy Bartlett, is a PhD statistician with two decades of experience working in what is now called data science. Randy has published a series of articles that demolish the main myths about statistics and statisticians put forth by these bloggers. His Statistical Denial series can be with links below.

Statistical Denial 1, Blog 1: Essays On Statistics Denial

Statistical Denial 2: Statistics Debacles & The Coming Flood Of Statistical Malfeasance

Statistical Denial 3: Applied Statistics Is A Way Of Thinking, Not Just A Toolbox

Statistical Denial 4: Five Forces Pushing Statistics Expertise Out of Data Analysis

Statistical Denial 5, Myth 1: Traditional Techniques Straw Man

Statistical Denial 6, Myth 2: Why Statisticians Not Only Practice Within Traditional Statistics

Statistical Denial 7, Myth 3: Are Data Mining and Machine Learning Distinct from Statistics?

Statistical Denial 8, Myth 4: Why Prediction Is / Is Not Part of Statistics

Statistical Denial 9, Myth 5 and 6: Why Statistical Significance Does Work For Big Data

Statistical Denial 10, Myths 7, 8 and 9: 3 Statistics Denial Myths on the Volume of Big Data

Statistical Denial 11, Myths 10 and 11: Debunking the Myth that None of Statistics Works for Big Data

Statistical Denial 12, Myth 12: Publications Straw Man

Statistical Denial 13, Myths 13 and 14: Minimizing The Profession

There is a wealth of practical knowledge about statistics and data science pertinent to marketing research in these posts, and I would urge you to read every one of them.

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Kevin Gray is President of Cannon Gray, a marketing science and analytics consultancy. 

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