Читать книгу Introduction to Linear Regression Analysis - Douglas C. Montgomery - Страница 16

We could use an observational study to collect data for this problem. As the name implies, an observational study simply observes the process or population. We interact or disturb the process only as much as is required to obtain relevant data. With proper planning, these studies can ensure accurate, complete, and reliable data. On the other hand, these studies often provide very limited information about specific relationships among the data.

In this example, we would set up a data collection form that would allow the production personnel to record the two temperatures and the actual reflux rate at specified times corresponding to the observed concentration of acetone in the product stream. The data collection form should provide the ability to add comments in order to record any interesting phenomena that may occur. Such a procedure would ensure accurate and reliable data collection and would take care of problems 1 and 2 above. This approach also minimizes the chances of observing an outlier related to some error in the data. Unfortunately, an observational study cannot address problems 3 and 4. As a result, observational studies can lend themselves to problems with collinearity.