We need both exploratory and confirmatory


Authors: 
Tukey, J. W.
Category: 
Volume: 
34(1)
Pages: 
23-25
Year: 
1980
Publisher: 
The American Statistician
Abstract: 

We often forget how science and engineering function. Ideas come from previous exploration more often than from lightning strokes. Important questions can demand the most careful planning for confirmatory analysis. Broad general inquiries are also important. Finding the question is often more important than finding the answer. Exploratory data analysis is an attitude, a flexibility, and a reliance on display, NOT a bundle of techniques, and should be so taught. Confirmatory data analysis, by contrast, is easier to teach and easier to computerize. We need to teach both; to think about science and engineering more broadly; to be prepared to randomize and avoid multiplicity.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education

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