There is a little-known but very simple generalization of the standard result that for uncorrelated variables with a common mean and variance, the expected sample variance is the marginal variance. The generalization justifies the use of the usual standard error of the sample mean in possibly...

Most standard statistical methods treat numerical data as if they were real (infinitenumber- of-decimal-places) observations. The issue of quantization or digital resolution is recognized by engineers and metrologists, but is largely ignored by statisticians and can render standard statistical...

We consider a misconception common among students of statistics involving "adjusted" and "unadjusted" sums-of-squares. While the presence of misconception has been noted before (e.g. Hamilton (1986)), we argue that it may be related to the language we use in describing the meaning of...

In this note we examine the relevance of Sheppards correction for variances and (both the original and a valid weak form of) the so-called quantization noise model to understanding the effects of integer-rounding on continuous random variables. We further consider whether there is any real...

Design reliability at the beginning of a product development program is typically low and development costs can account for a large proportion of total product cost. We consider how to conduct development programs (series of tests and redesigns) for one-shot systems (which are destroyed at first...

In this entry we seek to put into perspective some of the ways in which statistical methods contribute to modern engineering practice. Engineers design and oversee the production, operation, and maintenance of the products and systems that under-gird modern technological society. Their work is...

We consider problems of quantifying and monitoring accuracy and precision of measurement in mass spectrometry, particularly in contexts where there is unavoidable day-to-day/period-to-period changes in instrument sensitivity. First we consider the issue of estimating instrument sensitivity based...