Talk:Hans van Houwelingen

Quote
Hi, there's a quote in Dutch on this Wiki-page, that reads: "dat Expecting the Unexpected een heel goede functiebeschrijving is voor een biostatisticus. Het is de taak van een statisticus om vooruit te kijken naar wat zou kunnen gebeuren en anderen te helpen daar verstandig mee om te gaan. Dat geldt niet alleen voor adviserend werk. De statisticus moet dat ook proberen te doen bij het onderzoek in zijn eigen vak.". I translated that to: Expecting the Unexpected is a very accurate job description for a biostatistician. The task of a statistician is to anticipate what could happen and help others to deal with that sensibly. This does not only apply to consulting jobs, but also concerns research in their own field You changed that to: Expecting the Unexpected is a very accurate job description for a biostatistician. The mission of statisticians is to anticipate what could happen and assist others in forming sensible responses. This mission is not limited to consulting work. It also concerns research in their own field. Thank you for your help. Maybe this part can still be improved: "assist others in forming sensible responses"; I think Van Houwelingen meant people will have to deal with the anticipated situation, the scenario of what could happen, for example: the statistician finds a high probability there will be less work for people in administrative jobs, because of robots taking over the work. The mission of statisticians is to help people deal with this expectation sensibly. I think "assist others in forming sensible responses" seems to implicate only other scientists are assisted. What do you think? Laurier (talk) 10:10, 20 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi You're very welcome! Your entire intro proves that we agree on what Van Houwelingen meant. So I'm referring ONLY to your last phrase. This concern could have held water, however Van Houwelingen went on to say: "This mission is not limited to consulting work. It also concerns research in their own field." I.e. the sensible solutions must be equally offered in their own research. As this wasn't clear to you from reading the improved translation, I'll change work to others. BTW the original isn't so well fleshed out either. Is the original perhaps part of a transcribed speech or interview? The idea of broad responsibility for statisticians is compelling when stated by a statistician and possibly why you chose the quote. It implies deep involvement in various stages of research assisted. gidonb (talk) 13:27, 20 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Sorry for asking the obvious. By the title of the publication is part of a speech. Actually a good finding as it formally justifies taking somewhat more liberty in the translation. I took that liberty by context. gidonb (talk) 13:32, 20 December 2018 (UTC)
 * BTW "others" in both phrases can mean the researchers that one directly consults and the affected populations (in your example jobseekers or workforce) for whom sensible responses are suggested. I think this was your real concern. In response I'll also change your own consulting to advising. gidonb (talk) 14:03, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

godfathers
Hi, I just made this edit, and hope my edit descriptions makes it more clear. I think there is just a subtle difference between 'in Leiden' and 'of Leiden', but the implication is quite clear. Do you agree? Thank you for your help, Laurier  (talk) 13:48, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Authority control - links
Hi all, I have a question about the template Authority control at the bottom of the page. I found the same template on the page Martin Schumacher, with some links to public profiles of Schumacher. The issue with Van Houwelingen is, in his publications and publications about him, he goes by different names. (As you can see here.) So it's not that easy to identify him sometimes. Can anyone help in connecting the Wikipage to these pages, for example? Thank you in advance, Laurier  (talk) 10:56, 26 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Van Houwelingen on Deutsche National Bibliothek
 * Van Houwelingen on ResearchGate
 * Van Houwelingen on WorldCat Identities
 * Van Houwelingen on ISNI by OCLC
 * Maybe relevant: Wikidata item Laurier  (talk) 11:41, 26 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I have taken a quick look. Check his Wikidata item! My process: I usually search Mix'n'match to see if the person can be matched to some external databases there, and then explore their VIAF record which, under 'History of VIAF ID' usually includes some identifiers in other databases too. Cheers, Spinster (talk) 18:17, 4 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you, Spinster! Laurier  (talk) 21:17, 5 January 2019 (UTC)