| Title: Discovering an Error Scenario
Characters: Ken Joslen, Study Staff Member Jeffery Smith, Study Staff Member Dr. Pauline Porter, Researcher Jeffery's kid, about six EXTERIOR, PICNIC TABLE NEAR CAMPUS PARK The three researchers are talking shop on a weekend under guise of spending quality time with their children and significant others. A couple of kids play in the background. The remains of a picnic lunch litter the table. KEN So we're screwed? We're totally screwed! JEFFERY The St. Louis interviews weren't conducted like the Chicago interviews because the interviewers were hired late and didn't get the same training as Chicago interviewers.. KEN Why were they hired late? JEFFERY The interviewers are mostly grad students at the medical school { Robert, references to actual institutions may be too controversial. Please change to a generic institution } . Their school year ends a week later than the UC's. KEN So we're screwed, right? The data aren't comparable because the questions were asked differently? JEFFERY They were asked the same questions, but not in the same way. KEN We're screwed. What are we gonna do? KEN”S SIGNIFICANT OTHER Would you like some more potato salad? JEFFERY We could throw out the data from St. Louis ,start over, and retrain. PORTER The St. Louis study subjects have been corrupted by exposure to the faulty interviews. KEN Can we substitute another city for St. Louis ? JEFFERY Not without a sponsoring institution in that city. The med. School is our sponsoring institution and the med. school is in St. Louis . PORTER Besides, there's the budget. KEN So we truncate the study, right? Proceed without St. Louis ? (Ken receives a cooly objective gaze from his significant other, who's wondering if she should proceed without Ken.) PORTER That would mean to proceed without the med. School 's financial support. I don't think so. JEFFERY Besides, the training is still going on. Do we continue and let it go on as it is, or do we stop and retrain? KEN What do you suggest? JEFFERY'S KID Daddy! We want you to be the bear! JEFFERY Not now, Sweety. Daddy's busy. Can you play with some other animal, please? JEFFERY”S KID Oh. JEFFERY What do you think, Pauline? PORTER Well, it all depends on what sort of error the interviewers are making. Are they consistent? KEN Yeah, consistently wrong . PORTER But if they're all asking the questions wrong in the same way every time , we may be able to compensate for the difference. JEFFERY You mean fudge it? PORTER We might be able to establish to what degree the St. Louis way of asking questions affected the results. If the results were affected in the same way every time, we can adjust that data. KEN And Hans Solo can escape from the block of carbonite and rescue Princess Leila and the Wookie. JEFFERY Ken, have you got a better idea? (Pause.) KEN We're screwed. (Jeffery's kid plays ruefully alone.)