Nature Methods piece on scientific replicability/repeatability/reproducibility
Nature Methods just published our correspondence piece Clarifying the terminology that describes scientific reproducibility (co-authored with Ron Kenett). We make three points:
1. There's confusion between the terms replicability, repeatability and reproducibility, which differ in meanings across and sometimes within fields.
2. Currently, each term is defined in a specific context by giving a laundry list of "what conditions remain constant and what conditions are changed".
3. Instead: focus on generalization! By answering "what is your study trying to generalize to?" it become very clear why some conditions are held constant and others are changed. Moreover, it helps focus on the goal, strengths and limitations of the study.
July 30, 2015
New textbook: Practical Time Series Forecasting with R
Last year I co-taught the Forecasting Analytics course at the Indian School of Business together with Casey Lichtendahl from Darden School of Business. The co-teaching inspired us to collaborate on "converting" my Practical Time Series Forecasting textbook, which is based on XLMiner software, to an edition that uses R. Since several colleagues have requested such an edition, and motivated by our colleague Rob Hyndman - the guru of forecasting and creator of R forecast package - we embarked on the journey. Our new textbook is now available on Amazon (softcover and Kindle).
Yesterday was a moving day for me: I was awarded permanent residency in Taiwan, receiving the Plum Blossom Card (for senior professionals). It was especially moving because the director of Hsinchu immigration, along with a delegate of immigration officers and a TV reporter visited me at my NTHU office to award me the card in person. I was extremely touched and amazed. I learned of the intended visit only in the morning, and serendipitously my family was able to join the occasion.
The appreciation for professors and professionals in Taiwan is outstanding, as reflected by attitudes of many Taiwanese who asked me what I do. That the immigration authorities should also recognize the importance of attracting and retaining foreign researchers and professors is truly exceptional and forward-looking. This is my first such experience across the multiple countries I've lived in.
June 5, 2015
PLS and Prediction: two upcoming talks
Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) is a popular statistical modeling tool in information systems, marketing and other social science disciplines. Researchers using PLS-PM have typically focused on explanatory modeling. I will be discussing PLS from a predictive point of view at two upcoming conferences this month:
1. At the 2015 PLS Conference in Seville, I'll talk about “Distinguishing Between Prediction and Explanation in PLS” in the panel The Future of PLS (June 18, 2015).
Prof. Galit Shmueli, Institute of Service Science, College of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University, 101 Kuang Fu Road Sec. 2, Hsinchu 30013 Taiwan
