STATISTICS FROM A TO Z<br />-- CONFUSING CONCEPTS CLARIFIED
  • Home
    • Why This Book Is Needed
    • Articles List, Additional Concepts
    • Examples: 1-Page Summaries
    • Examples: Concept Flow Diagram
    • Examples: Compare and Contrast Tables
    • Examples: Cartoons
    • Example: Which to Use When Article
  • Buy
  • Blog
  • Sample Articles
  • Videos
  • Author
  • Communicate
  • Files
  • Errata

Statistics Tip of the Week: Beta is the Probability of a Beta Error, but Alpha is not the Probability of an Alpha Error

2/16/2017

0 Comments

 
​One of the things which make statistics confusing is the confusing language. For example, there is the triple negative of "Fail to Reject the Null Hypothesis". Then there are several instances where a single concept has multiple names.  
 
And this Tip of the Week is about what one might call an "asymmetry" in names for statistical concepts.
Picture
​
  • Beta, β, is the Probability of a Beta ("False Negative") Error
  • So, one would think that "Alpha", α, would be the Probability of an Alpha ("False Positive") Error. Right?
  • Wrong! p, the p-value, is the Probability of an Alpha Error.
 
So, what is Alpha? First of all, the person performing the a statistical test  selects the value of Alpha. Alpha is (called the "Significance Level"). It is 1 minus the Confidence Level.
Picture
Alpha is the maximum value for p (the probability of an Alpha Error) which the tester is willing to tolerate and still call the test results "Statistically Significant". 
​
For more on Alpha and p you can view 2 videos on my YouTube channel.
  • Alpha, the Significance Level   
  • p, p-value  
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Andrew A. (Andy) Jawlik is the author of the book, Statistics from A to Z -- Confusing Concepts Clarified, published by Wiley.

    Archives

    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All
    New Video
    Stats Tip Of The Week
    You Are Not Alone

    RSS Feed

  • Home
    • Why This Book Is Needed
    • Articles List, Additional Concepts
    • Examples: 1-Page Summaries
    • Examples: Concept Flow Diagram
    • Examples: Compare and Contrast Tables
    • Examples: Cartoons
    • Example: Which to Use When Article
  • Buy
  • Blog
  • Sample Articles
  • Videos
  • Author
  • Communicate
  • Files
  • Errata