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

[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.

[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.

[gazpacho]

@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.

[KidCharlemagne]

@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.

[Bippy_the_Beardless]

@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.