# Is 80% the same as "8 out of 10"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 11, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871 "2005-04-11T23:27:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871/21 "2005-04-12T17:26:36Z")

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This may be a nit pick, but you should _not_ write it **80% ± 5%**. The proper method is to write **80% ± 5 percentage points**.

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**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871/22 "2005-04-12T18:58:32Z")

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> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
>
> It depends on how large the sample is. Eight out of ten in a sample of ten is not statistically significant.

Doesn’t this depend on the probability of “success?” For instance, if I have a system for picking lottery numbers and I get 8 out of 10 right, that’s gotta be statistically signficant.

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**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871/23 "2005-04-12T19:08:30Z")

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> [@KidCharlemagne](#):
>
> > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
> >
> > It depends on how large the sample is. Eight out of ten in a sample of ten is not statistically significant.
> 
> Doesn’t this depend on the probability of “success?” For instance, if I have a system for picking lottery numbers and I get 8 out of 10 right, that’s gotta be statistically signficant.

I certainly don’t read 8 out of 10 as indicating that the sample size is 10. Nobody says 6487 out of 8283 in articles summarizing research.

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**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871/24 "2005-04-12T22:07:18Z")

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> [@gazpacho](#):
>
> I certainly don’t read 8 out of 10 as indicating that the sample size is 10. Nobody says 6487 out of 8283 in articles summarizing research.

I don’t either, but read his post again and you’ll see that he indicates 8 out of 10 isn’t statistically signifcant with a sample size of 10.

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**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-80-the-same-as-8-out-of-10/298871/25 "2005-04-12T22:21:09Z")

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> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> This may be a nit pick, but you should _not_ write it **80% ± 5%**. The proper method is to write **80% ± 5 percentage points**.

I think you are right. There are more nits to this problem than can be found at a chimp’s tea party.

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