The relation between theory and application in statistics. (With discussion)
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: The relation between theory and application in statistics. (With discussion)
zbMATH Open document ID: 0844.62001
DOI: 10.1007/BF02562627
published in: Test
publication date: 1996-09-01T00:00:00Z
review text: The present paper is in effect a series of comments on the relation between theory and application. The view is eclectic, almost guaranteeing that many will find something to dislike about the paper! If there is a single implicit theme to the paper it is that discussion of different modes of inference, fascinating though it is, is less important than issues of problem formulation and perhaps this is a view on which there may be wider agreement. The paper concentrates on applications in science and science-based technology where the object is in some sense to gain understanding and to present conclusions for relatively public discussion and incorporation into the knowledge base of the field. That is, applications where there is an immediate decision to be made, including issues of personal decision making or personal beliefs, are exluded. In analyzing and interpreting data the use of models, implicit or explicit, is unavoidable. The results of descriptive statistics or exploratory data analysis are meaningless numbers or graphs unless interpreted as representing aspects of subject-matter interest and this requires some schematic view of the system under study. While methods without an explicit probabilistic base can be important, for most of the paper the usual route of formulating explicit probability models will be followed.
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 62A01
zbMATH DE Number: 892596
zbMATH Keywords: theory
zbMATH Keywords: application
zbMATH Keywords: modes of inference
Wikidata QID: Q63362848
author: D. R. Cox
MaRDI profile type: Publication
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description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 892596