All Models Are Wrong But Some Are Useful

Posted on March 4, 2007 by John Hunter

“All Models Are Wrong But Some Are Useful” -George Box

A great quote. Here is the source: George E.P. Box, Robustness in the strategy of scientific model building, page 202 of Robustness in Statistics, R.L. Launer and G.N. Wilkinson, Editors. 1979.

See more quotes by George Box.

Related: Dangers of Forgetting the Proxy Nature of Data – articles by George Box – Quotes by Dr. W. Edwards Deming

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6 Responses to All Models Are Wrong But Some Are Useful

  1. Tony Burton says:
    February 7, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    Many thanks. I've been looking for the source of that quote for years.

  2. Pingback: Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Dangers of Forgetting the Proxy Nature of Data

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  4. Erich B. says:
    November 23, 2009 at 4:48 pm

    The odds of a 500 year flood don't depend on our observations or our data set. Only our estimation of the odds changes. 😉

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  6. Wayne Vick says:
    November 18, 2014 at 10:09 am

    I heard that exact quote used by Dr. W. Edwards Deming in a seminar I attended in Norfolk, VA in 1992.

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