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Wisdom of Crowds

By Chris Hemedinger on The SAS Dummy August 5, 2009

Can a crowd of thousands produce better answers than a few experts? That's the question that Sir Francis Galton asked in the 19th century and sought to statistically prove, one way or another.

I recently watched an entertaining and informative segment about Galton and the so-called "wisdom of crowds" on Nova scienceNow. The PBS web site hosts some more information with examples and little fun experiments. Be sure to also check out the Ask the Expert section for insight into the probability science behind "Let's Make a Deal".

About Author

Chris Hemedinger
Director, SAS User Engagement

+Chris Hemedinger is the Director of SAS User Engagement, which includes our SAS Communities and SAS User Groups. Since 1993, Chris has worked for SAS as an author, a software developer, an R&D manager and a consultant. Inexplicably, Chris is still coasting on the limited fame he earned as an author of SAS For Dummies.

2 Comments

Chris on August 5, 2009 9:31 am

Update: a colleague pointed me to this alternative view on the topic.

http://www.despair.com/meetings.html
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