These are very important points.
There are a number of statistical things
that have outlived their utility. A master, such as Fisher, can
stamp a methodology so firmly into the minds of his followers that
it becomes almost impossible to replace it when it becomes obsolescent.
The advent of the computer and widely used statistical packages is
having the same effect that the advent of printing had on language --
the freezing of methods of expression. I can think of advantages
for language, but off the top of my head I cannot think of any for
statistics.
It is difficult to write a commercial computer program that departs
from materials that appear in the standard textbooks. If one does,
reviewers are sure to denigrate the program, and readers of the reviews
will look elsewhere. I believe Paul Velleman observed someplace on this
thread or another that there were better ways than stepwise regression
to deal with the problem, and that his Data Desk offers an alternative.
I think his observations were not given due weight.
In my case, experimental design for engineers, the standard textbooks
present a considerable problem. They are structured for statisticians,
and many of the methodologies depend on a world view alien to
engineers. Fortunately statistics is rich enough that one can choose
paths less well traveled -- criticism for not employing standard methodologies
is to be expected.
Bob Wheeler, ECHIP, Inc.