Re:Why isn't everything normally distributed?
by BrandoElFollito on Friday July 21, 2017 @10:13AM
(#14820669)
I think that "good theoretical motivations" is the key point.
I am a (also former) physicist and it drives me crazy when people fit what ever happens to be in the chart to a straight line, "to get the trend". Whenever I ask them for the theory which predicts that x and y will be linked by y = ax + b, they do not have any.
This also goes on with extrapolations or interpolations, usually without the slightest theoretical reason to do so.
The problem is that when working with marketing, HR or even finance, they are so used to "getting the trend" with a linear fit that I am hopeless.
I once draw a parabole and asked for the trend (between the minimum). They were surprised by this stupid question as "it is obvious that there is no trend". Taking some random points linking share value with the number of women in a company "obviously fits to a trend line".
I am a (also former) physicist and it drives me crazy when people fit what ever happens to be in the chart to a straight line, "to get the trend". Whenever I ask them for the theory which predicts that x and y will be linked by y = ax + b, they do not have any.
This also goes on with extrapolations or interpolations, usually without the slightest theoretical reason to do so.
The problem is that when working with marketing, HR or even finance, they are so used to "getting the trend" with a linear fit that I am hopeless.
I once draw a parabole and asked for the trend (between the minimum). They were surprised by this stupid question as "it is obvious that there is no trend". Taking some random points linking share value with the number of women in a company "obviously fits to a trend line".