The below was written for an application that required a short summary of the most useful idea, advice or concept encountered during the applicant’s studies.
I was recently introduced to Anscombe’s Quartet, a unique data set that illustrates the importance of creative thinking. Anscombe’s Quartet is a collection of four data sets which have almost identical summary statistics but will appear completely different when graphed. When one considers only the stated mean, variance, correlation, or other statistical inference, the significant differences between the data sets are completely erased. While both graphs and statistics are technically accurate representations of data, they are not necessarily equally useful. This principle applies not only to data analysis, but to all forms of problem solving. In a broader