Statistical Thinking and Methods in Quality Improvement: A Look to the Future

Abstract

ABSTRACT Much has been written recently concerning the future of statistics in business and industry (e.g., Technometrics 2008). In this expository article, the authors extend this discussion to focus specifically on the future of statistics and statisticians within the context of quality improvement. We argue that though the problems our profession faces are well known and have been repeatedly identified in the literature, the underlying root causes of these problems have remained lurking under the surface of the discussion. In particular, though positive change is certainly taking place, we do not believe that the statistics community has fully accepted and come to grips with the radical changes in our environment over the past 20–40 years. In short, we believe that our environment has changed radically, whereas our own changes have been incremental in nature. One such change that seems particularly difficult for us to swallow is that our society needs us to function, especially in the quality arena, more as an engineering discipline, rather than primarily as a pure science. To the extent that we can make this transition, we believe that we will maintain and grow our vitality as a discipline. To the extent that we refuse to, or are unable to, make this transition, our vitality, influence, and impact may erode, as other disciplines fill the void we leave. We choose to view this situation as half full and therefore offer specific suggestions as to how we feel the profession can make the needed changes in order to secure a brighter future in quality improvement.