Re: [Phys-l] experimentation 101

[Hugh Haskell <haskellh@verizon.net>]

At 15:42 -0400 07/14/2010, chuck britton wrote:
> Some would say - and I think that I would agree - the value of 492.5
> cm must have resulted from a fairly serious experimental blunder -
> since it differs by half a meter from any other value.
> The other values all fall into a 'significantly' smaller range than this.
I wouldn't throw that one out without further investigation. It may 
be the "outlier" that is the nearest one to correct. What if there 
was some ambiguity in where the hall began and/or where it ended? It 
is possible, although not likely, that the outlier measured it 
correctly and the others got it wrong, so the criteria that each used 
for measurement need to be investigated.

I believe that it was Asimov who once said that the most important 
thing a scientist can say is "That's interesting . . ."

Hugh
--

Hugh Haskell
mailto:hugh@ieer.org
mailto:haskellh@verizon.net

It isn't easy being green.

		--Kermit Lagrenouille