{"id":815,"date":"2025-12-23T10:34:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/?page_id=815"},"modified":"2025-12-23T10:42:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:42:36","slug":"chapter-14","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/second-edition\/toc\/chapter-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 14: So what? &#8212; making sense of results"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embedurl\" data-url=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/books\/hcistats\/content2e\/chaps\/chap-14.html\" ><!--  Chapter 14 So what? \u2013 making sense of results  -->\n\n<script>\nvar chapnos = 14;\nvar json_url = \"https:\\\/\\\/alandix.com\\\/books\\\/hcistats\\\/content2e\\\/chaps\\\/chap-14.json\";\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3> Contents <\/h3>\n<div class=\"toc\">\n<dl>\n<dt>14.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Look at the data<\/dt><dd><dl>\n<dt>14.1.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Fitts&rsquo; Law &ndash; jumping to the numbers<\/dt>\n<dt>14.1.2&nbsp;&nbsp;But I did a regression<\/dt>\n<\/dl><\/dd>\n<dt>14.2&nbsp;&nbsp;Visualise carefully<\/dt><dd><dl>\n<dt>14.2.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Choice of baseline<\/dt>\n<dt>14.2.2&nbsp;&nbsp;Choice of basepoint<\/dt>\n<\/dl><\/dd>\n<dt>14.3&nbsp;&nbsp;What have you really shown?<\/dt><dd><dl>\n<dt>14.3.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Think about the conditions<\/dt>\n<dt>14.3.2&nbsp;&nbsp;Individual or the population<\/dt>\n<dt>14.3.3&nbsp;&nbsp;System vs properties<\/dt>\n<dt>14.3.4&nbsp;&nbsp;What went wrong?<\/dt>\n<\/dl><\/dd>\n<dt>14.4&nbsp;&nbsp;Diversity: individual and task<\/dt><dd><dl>\n<dt>14.4.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Don&rsquo;t just look at the average<\/dt>\n<dt>14.4.2&nbsp;&nbsp;Tasks too<\/dt>\n<\/dl><\/dd>\n<dt>14.5&nbsp;&nbsp;Mechanism<\/dt><dd><dl>\n<dt>14.5.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Quantitative and statistical meet qualitative and theoretical<\/dt>\n<dt>14.5.2&nbsp;&nbsp;Generalisation<\/dt>\n<dt>14.5.3&nbsp;&nbsp;Example: mobile font size<\/dt>\n<\/dl><\/dd>\n<dt>14.6&nbsp;&nbsp;Building for the future<\/dt><dd><dl>\n<dt>14.6.1&nbsp;&nbsp;Repeatability and replication<\/dt>\n<dt>14.6.2&nbsp;&nbsp;Meta-analysis and open scholarship<\/dt>\n<\/dl><\/dd>\n<\/dl><\/div>\n\n\n<h3> Glossary items referenced in this chapter <\/h3>\n<div class=\"toc\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/acm%20conference\">ACM conference<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/anova\">ANOVA (Analysis of Variance)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/base%20period\">base period<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/baseline\">baseline<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/basepoint\">basepoint<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/borrowed%20methods\">borrowed methods<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/chi%20conference\">CHI conference<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/claims%20analysis\">claims analysis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/constant%20area%20visualisation\">constant area visualisation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/controlled%20environments\">controlled environments<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/controlled%20experiment\">controlled experiment<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/data%20analyst\">data analyst<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/data%20consumer\">data consumer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/data%20journals\">data journals<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/day%20effects\">day effects<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/dependent%20variable\">dependent variable<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/design%20space\">design space<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/ecological%20validity\">ecological validity<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/effect%20size\">effect size<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/emergent%20patterns\">emergent patterns<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/empirical%20data\">empirical data<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/error%20rate\">error rate<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/expert%20evaluation\">expert evaluation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/extrapolation\">extrapolation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/extreme%20values\">extreme values<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/false%20baseline\">false baseline<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/false%20origin\">false origin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/file%20tree%20visualisation\">file tree visualisation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/fine%20positioning%20tasks\">fine positioning tasks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/fitts%27%20law\">Fitts&#039; Law<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/fixed%20effect\">fixed effect<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/font%20size\">font size<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/generative%20artefact\">generative artefact<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/in-the-wild\">in-the-wild<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/independent%20variable\">independent variable<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/index%20of%20difficulty\">index of difficulty (IoD)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/inter-related%20factors\">inter-related factors<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/interpolate\">interpolate<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/linear%20regression\">linear regression<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/mechanism\">mechanism<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/menu%20navigation\">menu navigation<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/meta-analysis\">meta-analysis<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/model\">model<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/monte%20carlo\">Monte Carlo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/multiple%20causes\">multiple causes<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/open%20scholarship\">open scholarship<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/open%20situations\">open situations<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/p-value\">p-value<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/pearson%20correlation%20coefficient\">Pearson correlation coefficient<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/peripheral%20vision\">peripheral vision<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/pietree%20visualisation\">PieTree<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/pointing%20task\">pointing task<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/public%20domain\">public domain<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/public%20sector%20borrowing\">public sector borrowing<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/qualitative%20methods\">qualitative methods<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/quantitative%20data\">quantitative data<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/r\">R<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/random%20effect\">random effect<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/repeatability\">repeatability<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/replication\">replication<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/replichi\">RepliCHI<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/response%20time\">response time<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/sample-based%20approaches\">sample-based approaches<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/scatter%20plots\">scatter plots<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/sensitivity\">sensitivity<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/significant%20result\">significant result<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/single%20cause\">single cause<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/spss\">SPSS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/statistical%20analysis\">statistical analysis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/statistical%20significance\">statistical significance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/student%27s%20t-test\">Student&#039;s t-test<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/subjects\">subjects<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/target%20size\">target size<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/task%20completion%20time\">task completion time<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/tasks\">tasks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/temporal%20data\">temporal data<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/theoretical%20understanding\">theoretical understanding<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/treemap\">TreeMap<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/variability\">variability<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/alandix.com\/glossary\/hcistats\/visualisation\">visualisation<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n<!-- ?php\n\tif ( @$page['prolog_examples'] ):\n?>\n<h3> Prolog examples (from 1st ed.) <\/h3>\n<!-- ?php\n\techo $page['prolog_examples'];\n?>\n<!-- ?php\n\tendif; \/\/ @$page['prolog_examples']\n? -->\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":801,"menu_order":14,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-815","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847,"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815\/revisions\/847"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alandix.com\/statistics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}