I've been tasked at work to improve our Service Desk (IT support helpdesk) and I know enough about statistical analysis to have talk about it, but I've never had the opportunity to use it. I've taken undergraduate and graduate classes in Stats, but I don't believe I have enough knowledge to use it on a real world problem. Does anyone in here have suggestions on books I can pick up that would help me out? I'm currently looking at picking up the Dummie's Guides, because I've had success with them in the past on other topics.
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I've taken undergraduate and graduate classes in Stats, but I don't believe I have enough knowledge to use it on a real world problem.
That shocks me. I don't see how you you took graduate classes and the professors didn't prep you for real-world application?
My graduate-level courses mostly focused on the tool we were using (SPSS) and we learned the concepts as we applied them in the program. The "Dummies" books or a general introductory book will hopefully give you what you need -- good luck!
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That shocks me. I don't see how you you took graduate classes and the professors didn't prep you for real-world application?
For my grad class we got stuck with a terrible professor. I believe he normally only does research and at the last minute he was told he had to teach a class. The class was originally assigned to someone else, but I'm not sure what happened. So basically we got alot more theory and higher level stuff and less nitty gritty type of applications. By far the worst class I've had in my program.
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"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
I took a few minutes tonight and went through some of the quality books I own. Although a basic statistics book would be good (ie. the dummies guide) I'd suggest taking a look at a book called The Quality Toolbox. I only mention that because when you collect information to improve a process it can be more important to collect the right kind of data, the right way.
I had to buy it for a course I was taking, but it is pretty good about summarizing the different improvement tools and when/where to use them. I was also going to suggest taking a look at ASQ (American Society for Quality), however, their website is down at the moment www.asq.org as they would generally have a quality improvement book. The book above though might be a better choice as it's geared towards students.
I'd suggest taking a look at a book called The Quality Toolbox. I only mention that because when you collect information to improve a process it can be more important to collect the right kind of data, the right way.
It made me just shake my head. Definitely not a good sign.
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Originally Posted by LisaS
I just looked at the preview on amazon - it looks like a much more interesting book than I would have thought from the cover & blurb. Thanks.
I like it. It's a good read. Of course, I'm into the topic. What I can say is that for each tool it follows the same basic process (description, when to use, procedure, example, considerations). Sigh, I miss working on process improvement. How sad is that?
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"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
Learning Statistical Analysis
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