Handouts for quality control workshop

I am in charge of a workshop for the American Society for Andrology for their 32nd Annual Conference in Tampa Florida. This society holds a laboratory workshop every year, and this year, it is being split into two workshops:

• Sperm Morphology - A Hands-On Workshop, from 8am to 11:30am, and
• Quality Control - A Hands-On Workshop, from 1:30pm to 4:30pm.

I will be teaching the afternoon workshop along with Dr. Steven Schrader.

These handouts are consolidated in a single web page and an abbreviated version will be included in the packet that students receive

• [Stats #18: Quality Control: A Hands-On Workshop][This link is broken]
• [Stats #18: Quality Control: A Hands-On Workshop (condensed version)][This link is broken]

Here is a description of the handouts that I will use and the topics I will cover. I always start by reminding people that they can find my class handouts on the web and that I don’t use PowerPoint.

• [Stats: About this handout][This link is broken]

Then I will put a brief plug in for my book, Statistical Evidence in Medical Trials.

I have some practice exercises that involves toys. These exercises will be done throughout the class,:

• Stats #18: Practice exercise

You may be skeptical about quality control as a bunch of busy bodies and outsiders who don’t understand the unique nature of your work. I want to discuss this in some detail and point out that some of the best ideas for innovation come from unexpected areas.

• Stats: A plea for open mindedness (November 2, 2006)

Then I will introduce some brief definitions

• Stats: What is a control chart?
• Stats: What is a special cause of variation?
• Stats: What is a common cause of variation?

I will also include one of my statistical koans that discusses the importance of establishing process control.

• [Stats: Koan 06, The Busy Tailor][This link is broken]

Then I will show some of the actual calculation for an XBAR-S control chart

• Stats: Calculating an XBAR-S control chart (March 2, 2007)

This handout has some work for people to do on their own, and answers will also be available for anyone who needs it.

• Stats: Calculating an XBAR-S control chart, answers to “on your own” exercise (March 2, 2007)

The best part of this class will be the presentation of material on Analysis of Means (ANOM). I am still developing and refining this material, but here is what I have so far.

• Stats: When is a control chart not a control chart? (February 6, 2007)
• Stats: Analysis of Means calculations (March 2, 2007)

If there is time, I want to present a Fishbone diagram and let people develop their own Fishbone diagrams.

• Stats: Examples of a fishbone diagram (March 24, 2006)

During one of the breaks, I will offer to review how to do some simple statistical calculations using a pocket calculator.

• Stats: Using a pocket calculator to compute a standard deviation (March 1, 2007)

Since Steve Schrader is teaching this class with me, he will cover some of this material and may have a different spin and an alternative perspective. He does a very good job of describing the actual use of quality control in a laboratory setting and can offer some practical insights about how to use control charts.

You can find an earlier version of this page on my old website.