Neiman's analysis was apposite to the data with which he was able to
work. A critic might say that the data was incomplete or problematic
and could not yield a definitive answer, and I thought his qualifiers
made it pretty clear he understood that.
-- Stephan
On 4 May 2008, at 15:20, Jurretta Heckscher wrote:
> On May 4, 2008, at 12:47 PM, S. Corneliussen wrote:
>>
>>
>> True, the misreporting of valid DNA evidence and the outright
>> misuse of statistical science originated among people representing
>> science, not the history profession, though credulous historians
>> unskeptically accepted the statistical stuff.
>>
>>
> Mr. Corneliussen, I assume that your allusion to the use (or
> misuse) of statistical science refers to the article by Fraser D.
> Neiman, Director of Archaeology at Monticello, that appeared in the
> William and Mary Quarterly circa 2000? As I recall, it applied
> statistical analysis to the probable dates of SH's conceptions and
> the known dates of TJ's presence at Monticello to demonstrate the
> extreme improbability that anyone else was the father of her children.
>
> This did not, of course, absolutely rule out the paternity of some
> other man whose presence at Monticello invariably correlated with
> TJ's. And Dr. Neiman is of course an archaeologist (and a very
> good one), not a statistician. However, along with the DNA
> analysis, his statistically-based conclusion is indeed the other
> piece of scientific--as opposed to traditionally historical--
> research that many historians, myself included, have found compelling.
>
> I am probably not alone among such historians in lacking the
> statistical training to evaluate Dr. Neiman's study as science. If
> his study is indeed, in your opinion as a scientist, "outright
> misuse of statistical science," could you possibly give us a brief
> explanation in laymen's terms of why you believe this to be so?
>
> If you can, thanks very much.
>
> --Jurretta Heckscher
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
> instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
