Abstract
THE first meeting of the newly-formed Industrial and Agricultural Research Section of the Royal Statistical Society was held on November 23, when Dr. R. H. Pickard, director of the British Cotton Industry Research Association, gave an address on “The Application of Statistical Methods to Production and Research in Industry”. Dr. Pickard referred to the important part now being played in the study of the technical problems of industry by the statistical methods initiated by Prof. Karl Pearson forty years ago. He pointed out the similarity between the statistical technique used in problems arising in cotton trade research and that developed by Prof. R. A. Fisher at Rothamsted in agricultural research. He gave a number of illustrations taken from the work of the British Cotton Industry Research Association showing the wide scope and utility of modern statistical methods applied to the sampling problems occurring in that industry. Discussing the question of the employment of fully-trained statisticians in industry, Dr. Pickard emphasised the need for the statistician to be well-trained in a knowledge of the processes of the industry. It is proposed to hold four meetings each session of the new Section and to publish a supplement to the Society's Journal (published four times a year) which will be devoted to the subject of statistical methods applied to industry and agriculture.
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Statistical Methods in Industry and Agriculture. Nature 132, 851 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132851c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132851c0