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Subject: Re: I'm wrong about 10-0 vs 60-40

Author: Walter Koroljow

Date: 09:48:36 02/04/01

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On February 03, 2001 at 18:58:36, Uri Blass wrote:

<snip>

>Assume level of confidence 97% in all of your tests.
>
>If you reject H0 in 3% of the times then it is possible that you are always
>wrong when you reject H0(for example when always We=0.5).
>
>If you reject H0 in 50% of the times then you are wrong only in at most 6% of
>the cases that you reject H0(to be more exact I need to say if the probability
>to reject H0 is 50% but the probability is something that you do not know and
>the % of the cases that you rejected H0 practically is something that you know).
>
>Uri

If I interpret you correctly, I disagree.  Let us work at the 97% confidence
level with H0 as before.

We agree that the highest Type I error rate (false rejection of H0) occurs if,
for each test we run, we have We = 0.5.  In fact the error rate will be exactly
3% then.  If We = 0.8, the error rate will be less -- assume 1% for convenience.
 Let me make my case by example.

Suppose that in the population that we test repeatedly we have:

34% We = 0.5 (H0 true)
33% We = 0.8 (H0 true)
33% We = 0.2 (H0 false).

Then the Type I error rate for the case H0 true is (.34*3% +.33*1%)/(.34+.33) =
2.01%
This is less than 3%.  I cannot see how the error rate could ever exceed 3% for
any mix of We.

For the case We = 0.2, a Type I error is impossible since H0 is false.  So the
overall Type I error rate
will be:

(.34*3% + .33*1% + .33*0%)/(.34+.33+.33) = 1.35%, of course also less than 3%.

On a different topic -- The confidence interval approach which gives a bound and
not a probability is consistent with the Bayesian approach which does give a
probability.  Why not do both?  Those people brave enough to believe in an a
priori distribution could accept the probability, and the rest would have to be
content with the bound.

Walter



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