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Equality of two probabilities (proportions?)

6 messages · mamuash bukana, Rolf Turner, Michael Dewey +1 more

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Dear R users,
I wanted to test if there is significant difference between
probabilities of the same event calculated in different ways. I am
aware about the prop.test() which does the comparison between two
proportions given the number of successes and sample sizes. But in my
case the only values I do have are the probabilities the event.

Your kind suggestions will be very appreciated.

Mamuash
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On 10/02/17 21:12, mamuash bukana wrote:

            
I think that it is pretty clear from your question that you are way out 
of your depth and that you do not understand the concept of "significant 
difference".

You should therefore seek help from a competent local statistician.

Although I could be wrong about my estimate of your depth of 
understanding, it is at the very least true that you need to read the 
posting guide carefully and learn how to ask a question that actually 
makes sense, includes necessary details, and gives list members a 
fighting chance of providing a meaningful answer.

cheers,

Rolf Turner
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Suppose we calculate probability of an event using Binomial
distribution and got p1. Then probability of that same event is
calculated using the Normal approximation to Binomial and got p2.
Can't we evaluate the goodness of our approximation by comparing the
difference between p1&p2? If yes, how to implement this in R?

I wouldn't have been here seeking for help if I had that "deep"
understanding of the issue under question Rolf!


M
On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 10:42 AM, Rolf Turner <r.turner at auckland.ac.nz> wrote:
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Dear Mamuash

I expect you will shortly get an email telling you that this is 
off-topic as it is about statistics not R but in the mean time you might 
search for "scoring rules" or even "Brier score". I am afraid I am not 
an expert in this area and they possibly do not answer your question but 
worth a try.
On 10/02/2017 11:27, mamuash bukana wrote:

  
    
  
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IMHO, You were given an appropriate answer. Please follow its advice.

-- Bert


Bert Gunter

"The trouble with having an open mind is that people keep coming along
and sticking things into it."
-- Opus (aka Berkeley Breathed in his "Bloom County" comic strip )
On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 3:27 AM, mamuash bukana <mamushbukana at gmail.com> wrote:
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On 11/02/17 00:27, mamuash bukana wrote:

            
In your original post you asked about whether the difference was 
"statistically significant".  As I suspected, the question is totally 
inappropriate.  The concept of "statistical significance" does not apply 
in this context.  There are no statistics; there are only calculations 
of probabilities.

As I said, you are out of your depth and need to learn the basics of the 
subject that you are trying to deal with.  Learn to walk before you try 
to run.  There are no short cuts to an understanding of probability and 
statistics.  A lot of hard graft is required.

Michael Dewey's suggestion of studying "scoring rules" or the "Brier 
score" might be useful to you, but you need to get the basic principles 
of the subject (probability and statistics) straight in your mind before 
you dive into these ideas.

As others have said, this issue is off topic for this list.

cheers,

Rolf Turner