In this week we explore the controversial topic of confidence intervals, one of the most frequently misunderstood concepts in Statistics. Before you continue reading, see if you can correctly answer these true/false questions about confidence intervals.
Much of the research surrounding confidence intervals is very technical. However, many experts agree that even professional researchers misinterpret them. Take a look at this article, which describes a few examples of how confidence intervals have been misused from a legal perspective. In many cases these intervals are interpreted as statistical facts, rather than theoretical possibilities.
Were you able to answer all of the true/false questions correctly? If not, which ones were the most deceptive? It seems that researchers in many fields (e.g. medicine, law, business) assume that scientific and mathematical findings are unquestionably true. In fact, we’re taught as children that mathematics can either be true or false, right or wrong. Based on this article, what are some common misconceptions that are assumed to be true, even from professional researchers?
How would you explain the concept of confidence interval to someone who has never taken a statistics course? Why might it be important to emphasize collecting multiple samples, even when the costs of sampling seem prohibitive?
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