"Describing our whole experience'': The statistical philosophies of W. F. R. Weldon and Karl Pearson
"Describing our whole experience'': The statistical philosophies of W. F. R. Weldon and Karl Pearson
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DOI：
10.1016/j.shpsc.2011.07.011
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发表时间：
2011-12-01
影响因子：
0.9
通讯作者：
Pence, Charles H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Pence, Charles H.
历史行为者从事统计工作通常有两个动机：将复杂的数据简化为平均值（例如，Quetelet），并考虑到多样性（例如，高尔顿）。不同的动机将导致统计科学实践中不同的方法论决定。Karl Pearson和W. F. R.韦尔登通常被视为直接遵循高尔顿的脚步。我认为两个相关的论文在这个标准的解释，根据阅读的几个来源，其中韦尔登，独立皮尔逊，反映了自己的动机。首先，虽然皮尔逊确实从这个“高尔顿”的角度来处理统计，但他与他的实证主义科学哲学相一致，利用统计来简化生物学的高度可变数据。韦尔登，另一方面，带来了丰富的生物统计学和希望保持生物数据的多样性。第二，我们这里有一个反例来证明动机的分歧将导致方法论上的相应分离。皮尔森和韦尔登尽管出于不同的原因采用了生物统计学，但他们在研究进化时使用了完全相同的统计工具。(C)2011爱思唯尔有限公司版权所有。
There are two motivations commonly ascribed to historical actors for taking up statistics: to reduce complicated data to a mean value (e.g., Quetelet), and to take account of diversity (e.g., Galton). Different motivations will, it is assumed, lead to different methodological decisions in the practice of the statistical sciences. Karl Pearson and W. F. R. Weldon are generally seen as following directly in Galton's footsteps. I argue for two related theses in light of this standard interpretation, based on a reading of several sources in which Weldon, independently of Pearson, reflects on his own motivations. First, while Pearson does approach statistics from this "Galtonian'' perspective, he is, consistent with his positivist philosophy of science, utilizing statistics to simplify the highly variable data of biology. Weldon, on the other hand, is brought to statistics by a rich empiricism and a desire to preserve the diversity of biological data. Secondly, we have here a counterexample to the claim that divergence in motivation will lead to a corresponding separation in methodology. Pearson and Weldon, despite embracing biometry for different reasons, settled on precisely the same set of statistical tools for the investigation of evolution. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.