SPC-Chapter 【DOC精选】.doc

Normal Variation “This tastes exactly like chicken.” “They are identical twins.” “They are like two peas in a pod.” Have you ever heard any of these phrases? They say that two things are the same. Actually, no two things are exactly the same. No two tastes. No two people. No two peas. No two things in the world are exactly alike. Take “peas in a pod,” for example. The peas may look the same, but they are different. One may be a slight millimeter larger than the other. One may have a wrinkle on its surface. There may be thousands of differences we could name. The differences my be very small, but they are there. The “identical twins” will be different too. They may look the same to us, but they are different. Their parents can tell. Their dentists can tell. The fingerprint records department can tell. When things are different they vary. The way things differ is called variation. It takes a lot of words to say how things vary. It would be nice if we could measure the differences. With a measure of variation we would have a number. Then we could talk about how much things differ. A large number would mean a large variation. A small number would mean very little variation. There are no two things exactly 1________________________. When things differ they 2________________________. These differences are called 3________________________. Let’s look a little closer at this idea of variation. Most of us at one time or another have gone bowling. Do you always get the same score? Of course not. It would be awfully boring if you did, wouldn’t it? Part of the fun in the game is trying to understand why your scores vary from one game to another. For example, your last five line scores may have been: 129 141 135 148 137 Or, if you are a golfer, your last five outings may have resulted in these scores: 98 91 96 89 94 We may wish our bowling or golf scores were more consistent. How many times has someone said, “Why couldn’t I