Behind the Peaks: The Analyst's Dilemma

Go Behind the Peaks with LCGC International—our new micro-podcast that takes you beyond the chromatogram and into the breakthroughs transforming chromatography. Hosted right here on our website, each quick episode brings you expert insights, standout research, and actionable tips to help you sharpen your methods and lead with confidence in the lab.

In today’s episode, we’re diving into the crucial role of sound statistical practices in chromatographic analysis—a topic that sits at the heart of reliable science but is often overlooked in the rush of daily lab work. Our discussion is based on two insightful articles by Bob W. J. Pirok from the University of Amsterdam, who challenges common habits and offers practical guidance for improving the statistical rigor behind chromatographic data.

We begin by addressing a familiar scenario: limited time, limited budget, and the temptation to rely on just duplicate or triplicate measurements. While convenient, these minimal replicates rarely provide the statistical confidence needed to draw meaningful conclusions. As Pirok explains in his article, performing a sufficient number of replicates is essential to accurately estimate variability, minimize uncertainty, and tighten the confidence interval around the true mean—ensuring that results are not just precise, but truly representative.

From there, we move into the importance of descriptive statistics and data quality, highlighting why robust statistics such as the median and median absolute deviation (MAD) often outperform traditional metrics like the mean and standard deviation, especially when outliers or skewed data are involved.

Finally, we explore the power of visualizing data distributions—through tools like box plots—to reveal trends, detect anomalies, and improve preprocessing strategies, particularly in data-intensive fields like machine learning. Together, these principles form the foundation for more reliable, reproducible, and insightful chromatographic analysis.

This podcast draws from the following two articles by Bob Pirok:

How Many Repetitions Do I Need? Caught Between Sound Statistics and Chromatographic Practice

How to Meaningfully Describe and Display Analytical Data? A Dive Into Descriptive Statistics

Craving more expert insights from LCGC International? Tune in to Analytically Speaking, where hosts Jerome Workman, Dwight Stoll, and Jim Grinias dive deep into the trends, tools, and people shaping analytical science. Listen to every episode here, or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and anywhere you get your podcasts.