Does Caring About the Analysis Matter?
The simplystatistics.org blog had an interesting discussion about podcast Roger Peng from simplystatistics.org recorded on A/B testing on Etsy. One of the late conclusions Roger Peng had is as follows
“Whether caring matters for data analysis also has implications for how to build a data analytic team. If you need your data analyst to be 100% committed to a product and to be fully invested, it’s difficult to achieve that with contractors or consultants, who are typically [not deeply invested].”
Yes, deeply caring is very important. That is why I share Roger Peng’s skepticism about external contractors. On the other hand, too deep involvement is also a bad idea. Too deep involvement creates a bias. Such a bias, that can be conscious or subconscious, reduces critical thinking and increases the chances of false findings. If you don’t believe me, recall the last time you debugged a model after it produced satisfactory results. I bet you can’t. The reason is that we all tend to work hard, looking for errors and problems until we get the results we expect. But mostly, not long after that.
There are more mechanisms that may cause false findings. For a good review, I suggest reading Why Most Published Research Findings Are False by John P. A. Ioannidis.
Image source: Data Analysis and Engagement – Does Caring About the Analysis Matter? — Simply Statistics
Boris Gorelik 