Page 258 - DLIS003_LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Unit 14: Library Statistics

induced abortion and the incidence of breast cancer. In a hypothetical controlled experiment, Notes
one would start with a large subject pool of pregnant women and divide them randomly
into a treatment group (receiving induced abortions) and a control group (bearing children),
and then conduct regular cancer screenings for women from both groups. Needless to say,
such an experiment would run counter to common ethical principles. (It would also suffer
from various confounds and sources of bias, e.g., it would be impossible to conduct it as a
blind experiment.) The published studies investigating the abortion–breast cancer
hypothesis generally start with a group of women who already have received abortions.
Membership in this “treated” group is not controlled by the investigator: the group is
formed after the “treatment” has been assigned.

The investigator may simply lack the requisite influence. Suppose a scientist wants to
study the public health effects of a community-wide ban on smoking in public indoor
areas. In a controlled experiment, the investigator would randomly pick a set of
communities to be in the treatment group. However, it is typically up to each community
and/or its legislature to enact a smoking ban. The investigator can be expected to lack the
political power to cause precisely those communities in the randomly selected treatment
group to pass a smoking ban. In an observational study, the investigator would typically
start with a treatment group consisting of those communities where a smoking ban is
already in effect.

A randomized experiment may be impractical. Suppose a researcher wants to study the
suspected link between a certain medication and a very rare group of symptoms arising as
a side effect. Setting aside any ethical considerations, a randomized experiment would be
impractical because of the rarity of the effect. There may not be a subject pool large
enough for the symptoms to be observed in at least one treated subject. An observational
study would typically start with a group of symptomatic subjects and work backwards to
find those who were given the medication and later developed the symptoms. Thus a
subset of the treated group was determined based on the presence of symptoms, instead of
by random assignment.

14.5 Scope of Library Statistics

The importance of statistics in recent years cannot be over emphasized. The development in
statistical studies has considerably increased its scope and importance. It is no longer regarded
as the science of statecraft or a by-product of state administration. Now it embraces a host of
sciences-social, physical and natural. Statistical findings have assumed unprecedented dimensions
these days. Statistical thinking has become indispensable for able citizenship. Statistics is of
immense use in the following cases:
In acquisition section
In processing section
In circulation section

In periodical section
In reference section

Task Prepare a report on the scope of statistics in different sections of a library.

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