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,:
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.
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
This handout has some work for people to do on their own, and answers will also be available for anyone who needs it.
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.
During one of the breaks, I will offer to review how to do some simple statistical calculations using a pocket calculator.
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.