COURSE DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this course is to introduce the delegate to statistical procedures and practices which can be used to advance rational decisions in the assessment of quality of products in the roads industry, be they stockpiled aggregates, bituminous binders in bulk tanks, concrete construction or completed pavement layers.
By the very nature of things, conclusions as to the quality of a product are invariably based on a limited number of samples taken from the entire population. Consequently, there are risks associated with the soundness of decisions.
To come to consistent, fair decisions this course presents tools which can be applied to assure the integrity and coherence of the data on which decisions are based. Once confidence has been established regarding the integrity of the data one has to resort to formal techniques, such as statistics and probability theory – rather than intuitive, informal assessment – to ensure that fairness in the assessment of the data prevails.
The course is structured to ensure that these issues are dealt with in the following order:
A. Presentation of data sets
B. Statistical methods
C. Management of Data
D. Judgement of compliance
Section A will briefly cover some fundamental algebra concepts, notation of data and the presentation of data.
Section B deals with sampling, statistical analysis techniques (T-, F- and Chi-square –distributions), tests of significance, regression analysis and uncertainty of data.
In section C, procedures to assure the quality and integrity of data are described.
Section D covers quality assurance and control procedures, methods for quality judgement schemes including risks of error and process control.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
The course is aimed at engineers, technicians and technologists who need an introduction to or are involved in the generation, verification and presentation of test data, the assessment of data in terms of compliance with specifications and the presentation of data and outcomes within the framework of quality management systems. Attendance would be beneficial to personnel employed by road authorities, consulting engineers, contractors, laboratories and suppliers of products and services.
PRESENTER:
Ron Berkers