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This is why I'm terrible at statistics. To me, it looks almost like wave function collapse.

The results are good only if you do a set number of observations (say 500) instead of waiting for a significant result (say it happens at 623). But what if you had decided to run 623 tests at the beginning?



No problem with that. But compare these two experiments:

  for i in range 623:
    data.add_result()
  s = calculate_significance(data)
  if s > 0.95:
    publish()

  for i in range 623:
    data.add_result()
    s = calculate_significance(data)
    if s > 0.95:
      publish()
      break
The second one gives you many more chances to succeed, which must result in your confidence in the answer going down.




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