CHAPTER 4
LEARNING FROM VARIATION IN DATA
Chapter Three described the use of the run chart, a graphical display of data plotted in time order. Because improvement is temporal, a run chart is almost always the beginning point for learning from data to facilitate improvement. This chapter goes more deeply into learning from variation in data for improvement. It will build on the use of the run chart and introduce other tools to learn from the patterns of variation in data. In this chapter we will address: concepts and theory about variation including the theory of special and common cause variation; strategies when working with special cause and with common cause variation; the Shewhart control chart; interpretation of the Shewhart chart; making ...
