MUSINGS 
Some thoughts 

The Religion of Statistics
The Practice of Statistics as Seen by Others:

I suggest that the major way others encounter formal statistics is through a religious experience with some of the following attributes:
  • A Priestly Cast who "understand” and who will say "believe" and "trust" us that we know.
  • A Foreign Language with unfamiliar characters and pictures that only the special few have mastered.
  • Bring your data to be blessed or anointed by the priestly ones who use strange chants. When we say: "It is statistically significant at the point oh five or point oh oh one level" you have reached Nirvana and they can now publish their results.
  • Of course there are Holy Books some written by various Gurus amongst us (with each of us attempting to attain that level). There are also different major denominations or possibly even a cult or two.
  • Ability to provide you with your own temple in the privacy of your home or office so you can pray with the MAGICAL, Mystical Computer Programs complete with “wizards” to guide you to the promised answer.
The Role of the Statistician as Consultant

Whether it is you trying to work with your own studies and be a statistician to yourself, OR if you are working with someone else's efforts at collecting data
         We Are Acting As The Voice Of The Data

By this I mean that you are effectively interviewing the data, attempting to understand what it, the data, is trying to communicate about the source from which it came. You need to be aware of the nuances. 
When you have a verbal conversation there can be more than just the words on the paper, especially if it is presented live with  sound and expression. Just seeing the numbers on a computer screen does not provide the extra information that is now lost.

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AND How Important is that Data and the Conversation?
            * Hunch
          ** Casual Conversation
         *** Thorough Interview
        **** Data On TRIAL !!