From a desert island (First report)

 

 

Thanks to all would-be desert-islanders who responded to my plea.

 

Thanks even more to those who resisted the urge, as they saved a challenging
task from becoming completely impossible. One of the first lessons for
survey designers is never to ask any question that you don't know how you
are going to analyse. 

 

At that first lesson I failed. If anybody knows how to analyse 100 free
format emails of which at least 50% deliberately AVOID answering the
question, I would love to know. (Serious question that: how DOES one analyse
free-format responses?)  This was the first survey I've ever done in which I
was delighted to get a 99.99% non-response rate.

 

Several kind people (thank you so much!) nominated what one of them called "

Mardia, Kent, and <can't recall the third author>:  Multivariate Analysis

A subsequent report will indicate what other books people selected. The
present report, dear reader, celebrates the fact that the statistical
community's sense of humour is  alive and well (33.76% of the time;
Americans are significantly less humorous than the rest p<0.5. Or maybe I
just did not understand their jokes.)

 

Responses came from seven different countries, but only one non-English
language book was nominated - unsurprising perhaps, but a sad comment on
today's monoglottal world.

 

Here are a few choice responses. Names have been removed to protect the
guilty (and in one case to protect me as you will see ... That one WAS an
American!)

*	My first prize for witticism goes to the last-mentioned. As you dear
reader will see, this is definitely a life-saving gesture. (Further prizes
offered  to anyone who can identify XXX):

"The book . I've most enjoyed was XXX, an annual series which has now sadly
been discontinued.  This is the report that told us how many  people were
injured by paperclips or falling typewriters.  It was unfailingly hilarious,
and it's the only book of stats I've ever taken to  bed to share with my
partner.  Put my name on that quote, Bibby, and you're dead."

*	"My top 5 are .. . although this assume the island has the luxuries
of home. Otherwise I'd go for 5 copies of the Handbook of Computational
Statistics and use its nearly 1100 pages as kindling"
*	"Perhaps none, depending on who else was shipwrecked with me" (who
WAS he fantasising about, I wonder?!)
*	"(I)n the circumstances .. (though not quite a statistics book) .
Francis Galton's 'Art of Travel'"

 

Regards (More to follow. If you've had enough, put me on your Spam list)

 

JOHN BIBBY

 

>          Survey time please! (I will copy results to everyone who replies)

> ...

> 

> If shipwrecked, which statistics books (up to 5) would you choose to have

> with you on your desert island bookshelf?

> 

>                      Replies by mid-June please!

> 

>                      JOHN BIBBY

 

-- 

 

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