Category Archives: Statistics

Design of Experiments Articles

We have added several Design of Experiments articles to the Curious Cat Management Improvement Library recently, including: Teaching Engineers Experimental Design With a Paper Helicopter by George Box Rethinking the Paper Helicopter [the broken link was removed] by David H. … Continue reading

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Marketers Are Embracing Statistical Design of Experiments

Marketers Are Embracing Statistical Design of Experiments (site broke link so I removed it) by Richard Burnham. Crayola® conducts an e-mail marketing DOE to attract parents and teachers to their new Internet site. The company discovers a combination of factors … Continue reading

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Statistics for Experimenters – Second Edition

The classic Statistics for Experimenters has been updated by George Box and Stu Hunter, two of the three original authors. Bill Hunter, who was my father, and the other author, died in 1986. Order online: Statistics for Experimenters: Design, Innovation, … Continue reading

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Control Charts in Health Care

This post is an edited version of a message I sent to the Deming Electronic Network. I find the “control charts in health care” thread quite interesting. From Mike Woolbert’s post [link broken, so I removed it] > I have … Continue reading

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Management Improvement History

I do believe we need to improve our practice of Quality (and to do that we need to understand what happened in the past and why it was not more successful). The idea that Design of Experiments (DoE) was at the core of some Quality Movement to me is not at all accurate. In my experience only a few Quality professionals today understand what it means and how it should be applied. The idea that it was common place in the 40’s I seriously doubt (though I don’t have first hand knowledge of this). I find it difficult to believe we would have decided to stop using DoE if it was commonly done previously. The understanding I have from those that should know (like George Box and previously my father – Bill Hunter) is that it was not at all common practice and still is not outside of a few industries and even there it is isolated in the domain of a few experts. Continue reading

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