The Anna Karenina principle describes an endeavor in which a deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms it to failure. Consequently, a successful endeavor (subject to this principle) is one where every possible deficiency has been avoided.
The name of the principle derives from Leo Tolstoy's book Anna Karenina, which begins:
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
In statistics, the term Anna Karenina principle is used to describe significance tests: there are any number of ways in which a dataset may violate the null hypothesis and only one in which all the assumptions are satisfied.
Read more about Anna Karenina Principle: Example: Failed Domestication, Ecological Risk Assessment, Aristotle's Version
Famous quotes containing the words anna and/or principle:
“I assert that the first, and fundamental right of every woman is to be allowed the free exercise of her own belief; and that free exercise is not allowed when she is in any way restrained either morally or intellectually.”
—Margaret Anna Cusack (1829–1899)
“I do not mean to exclude altogether the idea of patriotism. I know it exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But I will venture to assert, that a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.”
—George Washington (1732–1799)