I Remember You: Independence and the Binomial Model.


Authors: 
Levine, D. & Rockhill, B.
Editors: 
Goodall, G.
Category: 
Volume: 
28(2)
Pages: 
44-48
Year: 
2006
Publisher: 
Teaching Statistics
Abstract: 

We focus on the problem of ignoring statistical independence. A binomial experiment is used to determine whether judges could match, based on looks alone, dogs to their owners. The experimental design introduces dependencies such that the probability of a given judge correctly matching a dog and an owner changes from trial to trial. We show how this dependence alters the probability of a successful match of dog to owner, and thus alters the expected number of successful matches and the variance of this expected quantity. Finally, we show that a false assumption of independence that results in incorrect probability calculations changes the probability of incorrectly rejecting the null hypothesis (i.e. the Type I error).

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education