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Re: Blown Head Gasket
Posted by rharris (more from rharris) on Sun, 12 May 2002 10:46:02
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

The original writer on this thread wrote back indicating displeasure that a
number of us had responded to his anecdotal evidence on head gasket failure.
He states that as an electrical engineer, he deals with facts, not
anecdotes, but then he proceeds to generalize from his personal experience
with two SAABs plus seven others owned by friends.  This IS anecdotal.  I am
an economist, not an engineer, but I can't use that kind of casual
empiricism in my work, especially not with such selection bias.  Note the
difference: I am NOT drawing any conclusions about SAAB head gasket
reliability, in spite of more opposing anecdotal evidence than he has
presented.  

Would he have written in initially to report that he had experienced NO head
gasket failures?  Of course not.  The only reason the rest of us wrote in
response is because his conclusions were so unscientific.  He states that he
would like more statistical evidence, but that '(nothing) will change my
original opinion...dealing with blown headgaskets is a fact of life with
SAABs.'  So 'don't bother me with the facts?'  He even concludes that his
experience is significant, even though this is a technical statistics term.
Let's compare anecdotal evidence.  He knows of nine SAABs, having owned only
two.  I personally have OWNED nine SAABs, not two, and I have never
experienced a head gasket problem, nor am I 'constantly looking over my
shoulder after 50k,' as he expressed with his unchangeable opinion.  So
whose anecdotal evidence should we use?  Personally, I'll continue to
observe the facts, but unlike the previous letter writer, I'll remain open
to new data from a random sample, rather than from those who were upset
enough to write about (and generalize from) their experiences.  

Bob Harris

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