George Box noted on more than one occasion (and with slight variations in wording). Here's another variation on that same idea--I just saw it on this
page of statistical quotes.
"Statistical models are sometimes misunderstood in epidemiology. Statistical models for data are never true. The question whether a model is true is irrelevant. A more appropriate question is whether we obtain the correct scientific conclusion if we pretend that the process under study behaves according to a particular statistical model."
--Scott Zeger, "Statistical reasoning in epidemiology" in the American Journal of Epidemiology, 1991
--
Bruce Weaver
bweaver@lakeheadu.ca
http://sites.google.com/a/lakeheadu.ca/bweaver/"When all else fails, RTFM."
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