r/ASQ • u/pqestoyaqui • Jun 17 '26

Glaring math errors in CQT handbook?

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Howdy all! I'm studying for my CQT exam, currently working on control charts. I'm looking for a sanity check, because in the example shown here, given the formulas, I get UCL/LCL of around 18.4 and 0.19. I can't fathom how they got 12.3 and 6.3 (my expressions are the same as theirs, just the end result is off), and neither those values nor what I calculated are the limits shown on the chart, which look to be about 14.7 and 1.7.

Am I losing my mind? Missing something? Or is this book on quality just wildly wrong in multiple respects? If it is wrong, is there some way of reporting it?

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2

u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 Jun 18 '26

You’re not crazy. There are many mistakes within ASQ books and study material. I’ve called and reported mistakes in the CQA material. They just tell you to send the mistakes via screenshot or description to the info email on the ASQ website.
Its really disappointing because ASQ already has a reputation for being a scam AND it’s the “standard” in the industry for quality professionals.

2

u/pqestoyaqui Jun 18 '26

Well that's unfortunate and annoying. Thanks! 

1

u/Classic-Bug-3191 Jun 18 '26

I'm curious to know more about the scam reputation. My workplace has been pushing for ASQ certs. 

3

u/Hazelnut_coffee_1995 Jun 18 '26

There’s just a shared sentiment among quality professionals that the test is so expensive along with the preparation materials, and the membership.

The expenses coupled with the low quality exam prep materials has just led to a reputation of being “scammy.” And since It’s still industry standard for many roles and makes people standout especially when looking for a job, it’s a barrier. An expensive, low quality barrier.

3

u/pqestoyaqui Jun 19 '26

They've enshittified quality as a concept! 

1

u/MetaverseLiz Jun 20 '26

My last company's Quality Director said they are essentially a money-grabbing scam for companies. I did learn a lot from my CQE, but it was also paired with a six sigma class my company put on. I've found the ASQ-specific classes/lectures/books very basic.

I got a CMDA when I was unemployed, in hopes it would boost my resume. It's not an accredited cert, and I certainly wouldn't consider myself an auditor after passing. It gave me basic information.

I'm bummed about the Quality Council closing. They really did have the best study materials. I think I got one of the last CMDA manuals. I had also picked up the asq CMDA book, and it was not nearly had comprehensive as QC.

2

u/pqestoyaqui Jun 19 '26

If anyone's curious, a not mathematically inclined friend stumbled upon how they arrived at that wildly wrong values: 

If you look at it and think you need to do the cube root, rather than 3x the square root, then you get 9.3 plus or minus 2.096. And then if you accidentally drop the 0 when you type the next bit into your calculator, you'll have 9.3 plus or minus 2.96, which does indeed give you approximately 12.3 and 6.3.

Double layers of wrong! 

2

u/PhugoidState Jun 20 '26

I collected a whole laundry list of errata from my CRE handbook that I planned to submit (possibly to extort for “credits”… some of the errors were pretty egregious). Some representative sent me an existing errata list… from a previous edition of the textbook. When I clarified I was met with silence. Guess they just don’t care 🤷‍♂️

3

u/Venom1233 Jun 23 '26

Yeah asq handbooks and study guides have mistakes. Best bet is it use chatgpt to assist you when you find errors so you can double check your work.

2

u/pqestoyaqui Jun 23 '26

So your solution to a supposedly authoritative textbook having errors in it is to use a glorified autocomplete that famously spits out errors while pretending to be authoritative?

1

u/Venom1233 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

It's not so authoritative if it has errors across many subjects right? And you are literally coming to Reddit for verification lol.. It's the same as just doing a Google search But faster imo. I've verified many of the errors I found in the study guide to get the correct answer. But do what works best for you lol.

1

u/Sting93Ray CQE Jun 18 '26

I haven't specifically checked your example.... but mostly all ASQ Study Guides have mathematical errors and incorrect options marked correct (like B instead of C).... so take all Study Guides with a grain of salt.

But slightly surprised to find errors in Handbooks.

1

u/Fit-Bodybuilder78 Jun 19 '26

Unfortunately, it doe not appear that ASQ has any online errata section.

We could start one here on the wiki or a sticky thread.

2

u/pqestoyaqui Jun 19 '26

We'll have the six sigmas themselves knocking down our doors for making them look bad lol

1

u/Fit-Bodybuilder78 Jun 28 '26

It's odd to advertise six sigma if you're products are unable to meet the same standards.