A device for diagnosing operation of an industrial process control or monitoring system includes an input configured to receive an input related to a process signal. A first statistical parameter module provides a first statistical parameter output related to a statistical parameter of the process signal. A filter provides a filter output related to a filtered value of the process signal. A second statistical parameter module provides a second statistical parameter output related to a statistical parameter of the filter output. A diagnostic module diagnoses operation of the industrial process based upon the first and second statistical parameters.