Date:         Thu, 20 Feb 1997 12:53:02 -0600
Reply-To:     chelberg@spss.com
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         Clay Helberg <chelberg@SPSS.COM>
Organization: SPSS, Inc.
Subject:      Re: Pareto Charts
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Kenneth B. Hill wrote:
>
> Can anyone give me some information and/or references to interpreting Parteo
> Charts for quality control activities?
>
> Ken Hill, MS
> Research Analyst
> Oregon Health Division
> ken_hill@class.orednet.org
>
> --
 
It's basically just a sorted bar chart, with the bars organized from
highest to lowest. It is used to prioritize or rank factors such as
sources of variance, causes of defects, etc. So, for example, you can do
a pareto chart of counts of different types of customer complaints, and
get an idea of what is bothering your customers the most. Then you can
focus your improvement activities on those things that are complained
about most, getting the most "bang for your buck".
 
It's a pretty standard technique, so I'd expect that most quality books
would have something to say about it. A specific example I'm aware of is
Carey & Lloyd, _Measuring Quality Improvement in Health Care: A Guide to
Statistical Process Control Applications_.
 
                                                --Clay
--
Clay Helberg         | Internet: helberg@execpc.com
Publications Dept.   | WWW: http://www.execpc.com/~helberg/
SPSS, Inc.           | Speaking only for myself....