Comments on: Statistics: Part 1, The Only Definition of Statistics You’ll Ever Need

By: 15 de febrero de 2008

15 de febrero de 2008 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:06:07 +0000

[…] Aprendiendo de estadísticas (2) (3) […]

By: Statistics: Part 2, How To Properly Use Statistic Charts In Life And Business - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:02:33 +0000

[…] to the second and penultimate post in our series on statistics. I know it’s not the most glamorous of subjects and you’re certainly not going to get […]

By: Chris Laskey

Chris Laskey — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:18:57 +0000

Thanks for the humorous post Charie, it was a great way to start my morning off.

“While stats can show us such phases with frightening clarity, the real use of them is in breaking those big pictures down into smaller actions. The smaller actions, remember, are what create the greater trends. In case you missed it, that right there was a fairly unmistakable hint that what you do every day matters, and determines what’s going to happen next week.”

Struck me as I read it. I’ve approached stats more as a gauge of ‘Where Do I stand Now’, and forgotten their other (more valuable) use: ‘How did I get here?’.

I too check my stats a few too many times a day, despite that pesky 24 hour update clock. Maybe now I will spend a few minutes on my second visit to break down some of those statistics, and correlate them to positive and negative actions I took that week.

Thanks again for a surprisingly eye opening post on stats,

Chris

By: jcorn

jcorn — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:58:41 +0000

Looking forward to that next post!

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:33:52 +0000

Great post. I especially like “a quantity representing production over a certain time period”.

I can’t speak about the broader aspects of statistics like other people here but I think it’s better to have statistics than to not have statistics.

In the context of online promotion I think measurement is crucial. I struggle initially to get clients onboard with the concept of measuring and comparing things such as traffic and conversion. How can they tell if their efforts are making a difference? How can they troubleshoot problems or weak spots? Guesses and qualitative judgments can be helpful but you can’t rely on them. Statistics give you something concrete to work with. Also, I’ve noticed that it is often better to present bad news with statistics than with qualitative assessments. It keeps things neutral and less emotionally charged.

By: Anthony Williams

Anthony Williams — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:27:58 +0000

I agree with your core point — statistics are only meaningful and useful with suitable context. In many cases (such as the production rate statistics you use as your main example), this context is the “identical time periods”, though as Aaron points out, you need to be aware of non-time-based differences too (such as temperature, when thinking about sweater sales). Certainly, in a marketing context, the key question is “did I sell more items/convert more customers after a marketing campaign compared to an equivalent period prior to the campaign”, but you do have to think carefully about that “equivalent”.

Sometimes the raw statistics (I make £23.17 per sale) are useful. Sometimes, it’s the direct comparisons (we sold more sweaters this year than last year) that are useful, and sometimes it’s the aggregate behaviour or trends (sales are going up, 15% of customers who bought a sweater last year bought a new one this year) that are useful.

In any case, it’s important to identify what it is that you’re trying to measure, in order to work out which individual statistics to care about.

By: Lewis

Lewis — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:59:34 +0000

Valuable thoughts on statistics. Thanks. Particularly on comparing relevant data, as otherwise they become inaccurate. For testing the website statistics I know a lot of people use a multi variable testing software to even test the punctuation marks effectiveness in copy, ie how much was sold using that variable. James Brausch sells one that’s got a good reputation.

All the best for the new year

Lewis

By: Mark H. Abucayon

Mark H. Abucayon — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:38:51 +0000

very interesting and excellent-

By: Del Hansen

Del Hansen — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:59:08 +0000

Good stuff! and certainly a fresh topic for this blog. I look forward to reading more indepth when it comes to hand.
In advertising we are taught that 50% of all advertising works - but no-one knows which 50%. Perhaps this will change now that we have access to more stats than every before…well, I can hope!!

By: Resno

Resno — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:14:28 +0000

Its great to see that I am not the only one using google analytics on a daily basis. I use it to gauge my sites progress. Since I am still in the earlier stages of development I am constantly checking my stats against search engine submissions and other methods I am using.

Resno- resnodesigns.com