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My two most hated statistical words are 1. Significant. "Statistically significant" just means "we think we measured something more than random noise because t
by civilized 4y ago
My two most hated statistical words are
1. Significant. "Statistically significant" just means "we think we measured something more than random noise because this wouldn't happen by random chance very often", a usage completely unlike any other usage of the word in English. I think it should have been "statistically suggestive" because that's all it is.
2. "Predict" - 99% of "predictions" are just inferences. They don't actually provide information that we didn't already have.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mellavora 4y agoYes, people forget that the core to Fischer's approach was to start with a hypothesis, a plausible mechanism which would cause (or at least explain) the outcome. Only then is it fair to use a p-value to show that your measurement is "something that wouldn't happen by random chance very often." As validation of a hypothesis which has merit on its own.
- adammarples 4y agoWhat are the 1% of predictions that aren't just inferences? I can't imagine