Existential Angst wrote:
Awl --

Rather than a harangue, let me just post some numbers, from the Dec.
Consumer Reports on Ranges I just got.

The first number is the price, the second number is CR's score

For 30" dual fuel (elec/gas),

Bosch 2,000 - 72
GE 1850 - 70
GE 1500 - 69

So far, so good, right? Heh....

Kenmore 3200 - 68
Wolf 5200 - 67
GE 2800 - 65
Viking 5500 - 63
Jenn-Air 2400 - 62
Dacor 6000 - 59
KithenAid 3700 - 50


If you were to graph this and do a linear regression for a correlation
coefficient, you'd wind up with a blob for a graph, which means a
correlation between price and quality of ZERO -- no relationship
whatsoever. If you didn't have objective scoring, and were going by
price/brand alone, you might as well randomly paste the product
sheets on the side of a barn, and shoot arrows at them blindfolded,
and buy whatever your arrow hit.

No, this only shows a blob between price and CR's scores. Whether CR's
scores are reflective of quality is yet to be determined.

And, of course, we know there's no necessary correlation between price and
quality. For example, two ounces of cloth made into a bikini swimsuit by
Emilio Pucci for $490 is the same amount of cloth as in a 15¢ dishrag. Both,
however, are designed to go on dishes.
http://images.saksfifthavenue.com/im...TL_180x240.jpg