Re: [boost] Ann: Statistical distributions / Mathematical Special Functions

From: Paul A Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-10-09 09:55:00

|  -----Original Message-----
|  From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden] 
|  [mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Topher Cooper
|  Sent: 06 October 2006 00:01
|  To: boost_at_[hidden]
|  Subject: Re: [boost] Ann: Statistical distributions / 
|  Mathematical Special Functions
|  
|  
|  
|  At 01:43 PM 10/4/2006, you wrote:

|  I've just started reading the documentation but I want to point out 
|  that phrases like:
|  
|  "we conclude that there is no significant difference, and accept the 
|  null hypothesis"
|  
|  are likely to interfere with any statistician taking the package 
|  seriously (unjustly, I think -- the statistics may be weak 
|  but you've 
|  obviously worked hard at the numerics, which is what you are 
|  supplying).
|  
|  One never, ever "accepts the null hypothesis."  One collects 
|  evidence 
|  and on that basis you either reject the null hypothesis or fail to 
|  reject it.  The point is that you don't ever really have evidence 
|  *for* the null hypothesis, only a lack of evidence against 
|  it.  It is 
|  quite a different thing to say "any difference in the means in this 
|  test is statistically insignificant" than to say "This test gives me 
|  an objective reason to believe that the difference in the means is 
|  exactly 0 (i.e., the null hypothesis) rather than, say, 1.0E-23 
|  (which is as much a part of the alternate hypothesis as is 
|  1.0E+23)".  Or in other words, the lack of evidence of a difference 
|  should not be taken as evidence of a lack of difference.

It is really valuable to have professional statisticans input (correction!)
like this because we do want acceptance by professionals.

But we also have a much bigger audience/potential 'amateur' users who start
off being massively repelled
by statistics-speak words like 'null hypothesis': meeting the requirements
of both at the same time is not so easy.

And we'll try to put this right and expose to your scrutiny again.

Paul

---
Paul A Bristow
Prizet Farmhouse, Kendal, Cumbria UK LA8 8AB
[phone] & SMS, Mobile [phone] & SMS
pbristow_at_[hidden]