Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods

The Korean Statistical Society (한국통계학회)
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Francis Gallon in the History of Statistics

  • Jo, Jae-Keun (Department of Information Statistics, Kyungsung University)
  • Published : 2006.12.31
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Abstract

Francis Gallon (1822-1911) introduced the term 'regression' and 'correlation' in the study on human inheritance of the stature from parents to their children. In almost every statistics textbook, superficial attentions have been given to him just as the inventor of the term 'regression'. Rereading his books and papers, we investigated problems he had tried to solve and the methods he had used to solve the problems. In addition, we tried to find the motivation that had led Gallon to take attention to the variation rather than the central tendency of observational data that had fascinated his forerunner Adloph Quetelet.

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References

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