Making statistics intuitive
A Fishbone Diagram, also known as an Ishikawa Diagram or cause-and-effect diagram, is a tool in Root Cause Analysis that identifies and organizes potential causes of a problem. Named for its resemblance to a fish skeleton, the diagram helps teams look beyond surface-level symptoms and consider multiple categories of potential contributing factors. [Read more…] about Fishbone Diagram
Gage R&R assesses the amount and sources of measurement variation in a measurement system. It evaluates a measurement system’s precision and helps you target improvement efforts where they’re most needed. It does not assess accuracy or bias. [Read more…] about Gage R&R Overview & Example
Control charts determine whether a process is stable and in control or whether it is out of control and in need of adjustment. Some degree of variation is inevitable in any process. Control charts help prevent overreactions to normal process variability while prompting quick responses to unusual variation. Control charts are also known as Shewhart charts. [Read more…] about Control Chart: Uses, Example, and Types
A Pareto chart is a specialized bar chart that displays categories in descending order and a line chart representing the cumulative amount. The chart effectively communicates the categories that contribute the most to the total. Frequently, quality analysts use Pareto charts to identify the most common types of defects or other problems.
Learn how to use and read Pareto charts and understand the Pareto principle and the 80/20 rule that are behind it. I’ll also show you how to create them using Excel. [Read more…] about Pareto Chart: Making, Reading & Examples
In a previous blog post, I introduced the basic concepts of hypothesis testing and explained the need for performing these tests. In this post, I’ll build on that and compare various types of hypothesis tests that you can use with different types of data, explore some of the options, and explain how to interpret the results. Along the way, I’ll point out important planning considerations, related analyses, and pitfalls to avoid. [Read more…] about Comparing Hypothesis Tests for Continuous, Binary, and Count Data
Typically, quality improvement analysts use control charts to assess business processes and don’t have hypothesis tests in mind. Do you know how control charts provide tremendous benefits in other settings and with hypothesis testing? Spoilers—control charts check an assumption that we often forget about for hypothesis tests! [Read more…] about Use Control Charts with Hypothesis Tests
Back in January of 2014, I didn’t expect that our family trip to Florida would end with me driving a plane load of passengers nearly 200 miles to their homes, but it did. [Read more…] about Lessons in Quality During a Long and Strange Journey Home