Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Page 1 of 4
By: Davis Balestracci When should I use what chart? Quality improvement people sure love those tools. A particular favorite, of course, is the control chart, of which, I think, seven are usually taught. Two questions Im always asked are, Which chart do I use for which situation? and When and how often should I recalculate my limits? Wrong questions!
ADVERTISEMENT
Regarding the first (well deal with second question in part 2), Ive seen many flowcharts in books to help you determine which chart to use for which situation. I find them far too confusing for the average user. (They even give me sweaty palms.) I dont even teach this in my work. As my respected colleague Donald Wheeler likes to say, The purpose is not to have charts. The purpose is to use the charts. You get no credit for computing the right numberonly for
http://www.qualitydigest.com/print/14243
3/24/2011
Page 2 of 4
taking the right action. Without the follow-through of taking the right action, the computation of the right number is meaningless.
If you have the patience to answer these and follow them through with a data set to an appropriate action, you will have probably answered the question yourselfsolving a major problem in the processand saved yourself a major side trip into the swamp of calculation minutiae.
http://www.qualitydigest.com/print/14243
3/24/2011
Page 3 of 4
So I never formally teach them and would do so only if needed in the context of solving an issue. C-chart (for counts). These are easily approximated by the individuals chart, especially if the average is at least five. Remember, the processs stability is the key question and determines whether you subsequently use a common- or special-cause strategy. Small numbers (and rare events) get very tricky and usually require guidance by a statistical expert to get the right number. Regardless, the run chart and individuals chart will generally lead you to the right initial action. P-chart and u-chart. When p-charts (percentages) and u-charts (rates) are plotted over time, pretty much everyone gets confused by the stair-step limits caused by the varying denominator sizes. This confusion only escalates by well-meaning attempts to explain them. Occasionally, the chart might come in handy for finding an individual outlier. More important, these also become especially problematical, especially for p-charts, when data are aggregated monthly, quarterly, or even annually. The resulting large denominators (as in hundreds or thousands) create many artificial out-of-control signals (i.e., above or below the limits). Donald J. Wheeler, Ph.D., whose books are very practical, well-written, and offer good examples (you can peruse them at www.spcpress.com [3]), is of the opinion that true independence of occurrence of events in reality is rarely encountered. So, he feels its correct to use only the individuals chart. My experience has pretty much borne this out. But, it depends, and gets tricky with small denominators. Np chart. As far as the np chart goes, its a marginal pedagogical classroom exerciseand thats about it. I virtually never use it because having equal sample sizes in the denominator is a rare luxury indeed. Or the machinations to create equal denominators then explain the resulting chart to ones puzzled audience far outweigh any benefits.
In these cases, the horizontal axis is not time. It could be, for example, individual doctors or locations. Many of you have no doubt encountered these via the fancy euphemism funnel plots, where the results are sorted horizontally by increasing denominator size.
Always start with process data gathered over time and plot a run chart
First, find out what youre perfectly designed to get, and second, see whether common or special-cause strategies are needed to further solve the problem. This gives you a baseline with which to assess the current state as well as your subsequent intervention efforts.
http://www.qualitydigest.com/print/14243
3/24/2011
Page 4 of 4
Many projects fail because they lack a baseline. So you see, theres never an escape from plotting your process data over time. As Berwick says at the end of his quote, You wont be sorry. Part 2 will look at the question that drives me nuts and explode some common myths about control charts.
http://www.qualitydigest.com/print/14243
3/24/2011