Talk:Statistics theory: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Michael J. Formica
imported>Michael J. Formica
Line 10: Line 10:
In particular, a [[measure (mathematics)|measure]] and a [[measurable function]] are not the same thing and the new sentence obfuscates the definition of a statistic. The point is that there is a ''precise'' definition of a statistic in mathematical statistics which is based on [[measure theory|measure theoretic]] probability theory. For this purpose I provide a reference for this definition. An intuitive definition as given in the second paragraph of the article is fine as a gentle introduction, but it should also be complemented by a more rigorous mathematical definition.
In particular, a [[measure (mathematics)|measure]] and a [[measurable function]] are not the same thing and the new sentence obfuscates the definition of a statistic. The point is that there is a ''precise'' definition of a statistic in mathematical statistics which is based on [[measure theory|measure theoretic]] probability theory. For this purpose I provide a reference for this definition. An intuitive definition as given in the second paragraph of the article is fine as a gentle introduction, but it should also be complemented by a more rigorous mathematical definition.


:Outstanding edit! --[[User:Michael J. Formica|Michael J. Formica]] 19:17, 10 November 2007 (CST)  
I agree that my original sentence may not have been very readable, so to strike a compromise I combined the good parts of both sentences and produced what now appears in the article. Cheers, --[[User:Hendra I. Nurdin|Hendra I. Nurdin]] 17:25, 10 November 2007 (CST)


I agree that my original sentence may not have been very readable, so to strike a compromise I combined the good parts of both sentences and produced what now appears in the article. Cheers, --[[User:Hendra I. Nurdin|Hendra I. Nurdin]] 17:25, 10 November 2007 (CST)
:Outstanding edit! --[[User:Michael J. Formica|Michael J. Formica]] 19:17, 10 November 2007 (CST)

Revision as of 20:17, 10 November 2007

Definition of a statistic

The modified sentence:

"More generally, a statistic can be any measure within a data sample. This would be some quantification of a random variable, or variables, of interest, such as a height, weight, polling results, test performance, and so on"

does not have the same meaning as the original

"More generally, a statistic can be any measurable function of the data samples, the latter being realizations of the random variables which are of interest such as the height of people, polling results, students' performance on a test, and so on."

In particular, a measure and a measurable function are not the same thing and the new sentence obfuscates the definition of a statistic. The point is that there is a precise definition of a statistic in mathematical statistics which is based on measure theoretic probability theory. For this purpose I provide a reference for this definition. An intuitive definition as given in the second paragraph of the article is fine as a gentle introduction, but it should also be complemented by a more rigorous mathematical definition.

I agree that my original sentence may not have been very readable, so to strike a compromise I combined the good parts of both sentences and produced what now appears in the article. Cheers, --Hendra I. Nurdin 17:25, 10 November 2007 (CST)

Outstanding edit! --Michael J. Formica 19:17, 10 November 2007 (CST)