Originally Posted by
wjclint
No - the plural of anecdote is not data.
If you want to make a corollary it would be something like:
Anecdotes that are randomly selected, variable controlled, and of sufficient quantity so as to be statistically significant to the topic at hand can be data.
This is why you should be willing to pay a little extra for a US based company to do a bit of quality control on your bike frame prior to your buying it.
Comments like "...where are all the horror stories on the china frames??" are anecdote. Statistical quality control off the factory line is data, or as you put it, randomly selected, variable controlled, anecdotes of sufficient quantity so as to be statistically significant for the topic of frame quality.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter