The “Sample Of One” Theory

London Vision Clinic research manager, Tim Archer (and others with a computer science, statistics and mathematics background), knows all about the “Sample of One” theory.

In a nutshell, the “Sample of One” means that most of us will ultimately ignore miles and files of meticulously researched scientific data in favour of one human interest story.

In other words; we can spend days, weeks, months and even years on the Internet intricately examining all aspects relating to LASIK and Laser Eye Surgery; but five minutes chatting to someone at a party who is thrilled to be glasses-free and to have binned the contacts for good, ultimately has more impact.

A casual social chat over a glass of Pinot Grigio, (probably including matter of fact questions like “did it hurt?” and “were you scared?”) is more likely to reassure and nudge us towards taking the step to make an appointment than mountains of finely-detailed and authenticated safety statistics.

When TV presenter, Phillip Schofield, tells us how wonderful it is to clearly see the leaves on the tree outside his window and the time on his bedside clock when he wakes up in the morning, without first having to grope around for his specs, reaches us all in a way that no scientific evidence ever could.

Many celebrities – like the rest of us happy London Vision Clinic patients – choose to shout their post op joy from the rooftops.  Through the media, we feel that we know and trust these public personalities and so we can all relate to their experiences.

It’s a classic case of the “Sample of One” theory in action.

Next time this blog will look at what happens when the “Sample of One” is even closer to home as we take a peek behind the scenes at the ever growing London Vision Clinic family.