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Statistics as a Social Activity: Attitudes toward Amalgamating Evidence
by
Andrew Gelman
Andrew Gelman 1,2,*
and
Keith O'Rourke
Keith O'Rourke 3,†
1
Department of Statistics Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
2
Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
3
O’Rourke Consulting, Ottawa, ON K1P 6K7, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Keith O’Rourke is deceased.
Entropy 2024, 26(8), 652; https://doi.org/10.3390/e26080652 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 1 July 2024
/
Revised: 24 July 2024
/
Accepted: 25 July 2024
/
Published: 30 July 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue
Bayesianism)
Abstract
Amalgamation of evidence in statistics is conducted in several ways. Within a study, multiple observations are combined by averaging, or as factors in a likelihood or prediction algorithm. In multilevel modeling or Bayesian analysis, population or prior information is combined with data using the weighted averaging derived from probability modeling. In a scientific research project, inferences from data analysis are interpreted in light of mechanistic models and substantive theories. Within a scholarly or applied research community, data and conclusions from separate laboratories are amalgamated through a series of steps, including peer review, meta-analysis, review articles, and replication studies. These issues have been discussed for many years in the philosophy of science and statistics, gaining attention in recent decades first with the renewed popularity of Bayesian inference and then with concerns about the replication crisis in science. In this article, we review the amalgamation of statistical evidence from different perspectives, connecting the foundations of statistics to the social processes of validation, criticism, and consensus building.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gelman, A.; O'Rourke, K.
Statistics as a Social Activity: Attitudes toward Amalgamating Evidence. Entropy 2024, 26, 652.
https://doi.org/10.3390/e26080652
AMA Style
Gelman A, O'Rourke K.
Statistics as a Social Activity: Attitudes toward Amalgamating Evidence. Entropy. 2024; 26(8):652.
https://doi.org/10.3390/e26080652
Chicago/Turabian Style
Gelman, Andrew, and Keith O'Rourke.
2024. "Statistics as a Social Activity: Attitudes toward Amalgamating Evidence" Entropy 26, no. 8: 652.
https://doi.org/10.3390/e26080652
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