Category: Analysis of means (ANOM) (created on 2007-06-18). Analysis
of means (ANOM) is an approach used in quality control circles to compare
averages, proportions, or counts across several groups. Also see Category: Analysis of variance, Category: Control charts,
and Category: Quality control. Other entries about accrual problems in clinical trials
can be found in the
analysis of means page at the
StATS website.
2008
[[There is no material yet from my new site.]]
Outside resources:
- Karen Homa. Analysis of Means Used to Compare Providers' Referral
Patterns. Quality Management in Health Care. 2007;16(3):256-264.
Abstract: "Objectives: The objective of this study was to demonstrate through
a case study how an analysis of means (ANOM) chart can be used to compare
groups and to advocate the usefulness of this method in improvement work.
Methods: The ANOM technique was used to compare referral rates among providers
at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Spine Center. The purpose was to
see whether there were any differences across providers in referral rates to
Behavioral Medicine services for patients who scored low on their mental
health score and whether referral rates were any different among the patient
characteristics. ANOM charts were also used to determine whether patient
characteristics were different among the providers. Results: Six of the 17
providers had significantly different referral rates compared to the overall
referral rate of 38%. Seven patients' characteristics had a significantly
different referral rate compared to the system's rate. The additional ANOM
charts used to compare providers relative to specific patient characteristics
demonstrated several special causes and revealed characteristic referral
patterns for some of the providers analyzed. Conclusion: The ANOM chart may be
underutilized in health care improvement work. The ANOM procedure of analyzing
patient characteristics to determine differences among providers could be
explored in other patient populations and settings." [Accessed December 1,
2009]. Available at:
http://journals.lww.com/qmhcjournal/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2007&issue=07000&article=00009&type=abstract.
All of the material above this paragraph is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. This page was written by
Steve Simon and was last modified on
2009-12-01. The material
below this paragraph links to my
old website, StATS. Although I wrote all of the material
listed below, my ex-employer, Children's Mercy Hospital, has claimed copyright
ownership of this material. The brief excerpts shown here are included under
the fair use provisions of U.S. Copyright laws.
2007
- Stats: ANOM table for alpha=0.05,
part 2 (April 21, 2007). Here's a table of critical values for analysis of
means (ANOM) at an alpha level of 0.05. It is a continuation of the table
Stats: ANOM table for alpha=0.05, part 1 (created 2007-03-04) and shows larger
values of I.
- Stats: What I'm working on right now
(created 2007-03-18). There are several research projects where I am actively
looking for collaborators. I thought I'd outline these topics briefly here.
- Stats: Calculation of Analysis of
Means limits (created 2007-03-06). This page shows some of the details for
calculating an analysis of means (ANOM) chart.
- Stats: Analysis of Means answers to "on
your own" exercises (created 2007-03-06). On the web page Stats: Calculation
of Analysis of Means limits (March 6, 2007) you were asked to calculate ANOM
charts for two different data sets.
- Stats: ANOM table for alpha=0.05, part
1 (created 2007-03-04). Here's a table of critical values for analysis of
means (ANOM) at an alpha level of 0.05.
- Stats: Analysis of Means calculations
(created 2007-03-02). Analysis of Means (ANOM) are available for a wide range
of data sets, and it is impossible to summarize all the applications of ANOM
here. The goal on this web page is to illustrate a few of the calculations.
- Stats: Team exercise to illustrate ANOM
calculations (created 2007-02-28). I am in charge of a workshop for the
American Society for Andrology for their 32nd Annual Conference in Tampa
Florida. This society holds a laboratory workshop every year, and this year,
it is being split into two workshops: Sperm Morphology -A Hands-On Workshop,
from 8am to 11:30am, and Quality Control -A Hands-On Workshop, from 1:30pm to
4:30pm. I will be teaching the afternoon workshop along with Dr. Steven
Schrader. Some brief details about both classes are on the web: a preliminary
schedule, a flier in PDF format, and a brochure in PDF format.
- Stats: When is a control chart not a
control chart? (created 2007-02-06). I found a pair of data sets on the web
that represent counts and where one goal of the data collection is to see if
any of the individual counts differ from the overall average. They look quite
similar and you might be tempted to analyze both of them using a control
chart. But the second example is different in subtle, but important ways and
it is better analyzed using an approach called Analysis of Means (ANOM).
2006
- Stats: Some resources for Analysis of
Means (created 2006-06-30, updated 2007-02-01). One of the techniques
recommended by Davis Balestracci when he visited CMH in June 2006 was
Analysis of Means, which often is abbreviated ANOM. You can use ANOM much
like a control chart, but it is applied when you have a collection of
averages representing the performance of specific subgroups. The classic
application is examining the performance of several different workers who are
all performing a similar task. I tend to dislike examples like that because
it implies that the root cause of most problems lies in the workers
themselves. That's not really true, though, but even if it were, such a focus
early on in a quality program would lead to a lot of resistance,
defensiveness, and possibly even fudging the numbers. Still, ANOM is a useful
tool that has a lot of profitable applications.
What now?
Browse other categories at this site
Browse through the most recent
entries
Get help