# Categorization and Variability By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-06-21 There is tension between categorization and variability. Humans can categorize quickly. We do it all the time. These things are alike; those things are different. Categorization helps us make sense of our world. However, humans sometimes learn that there is variability within a given category. Sometimes, an observation in one category is more like the observation in another category. At the extreme, the observations in one category are exactly like those in another. When that occurs, one should question the utility of the categorization. Humans aren’t very good at that. There is a tendency for the sedimentation of our categorizations. Analysts test these things frequently. Hypothesis tests are often structured to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between values from different categories. Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn’t. If one is going to categorize to make sense of the world, one should assess the variability within and between the categories. They won’t serve useful analytic purposes if there isn’t a statistical difference between or among the categories. Categorization is easy. Or, at a minimum, categorization is easier than assessing variability. Perhaps that helps explain why many statistically insignificant categorizations persist in human sensemaking. #### Related Items [[Categorization]] [[Statistics]] [[Analytics]] [[Cognitive Biases]] [[Variation]]