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Recent questions in Reading and interpreting data
Pre-AlgebraAnswered question
Ryan Robertson Ryan Robertson 2022-07-08

Is there a mathematical basis for the idea that this interpretation of confidence intervals is incorrect, or is it just frequentist philosophy?
Suppose the mean time it takes all workers in a particular city to get to work is estimated as 21. A 95% confident interval is calculated to be (18.3,23.7).According to this website, the following statement is incorrect:
There is a 95% chance that the mean time it takes all workers in this city to get to work is between 18.3 and 23.7 minutes.
Indeed, a lot websites echo a similar sentiment. This one, for example, says:
It is not quite correct to ask about the probability that the interval contains the population mean. It either does or it doesn't.
The meta-concept at work seems to be the idea that population parameters cannot be random, only the data we obtain about them can be random (related). This doesn't sit right with me, because I tend to think of probability as being fundamentally about our certainty that the world is a certain way. Also, if I understand correctly, there's really no mathematical basis for the notion that probabilities only apply to data and not parameters; in particular, this seems to be a manifestation of the frequentist/bayesianism debate.
Question. If the above comments are correct, then it would seem that the kinds of statements made on the aforementioned websites shouldn't be taken too seriously. To make a stronger claim, I'm under the impression that if an exam grader were to mark a student down for the aforementioned "incorrect" interpretation of confidence intervals, my impression is that this would be inappropriate (this hasn't happened to me; it's a hypothetical).
In any event, based on the underlying mathematics, are these fair comments I'm making, or is there something I'm missing?

Pre-AlgebraAnswered question
myntfalskj4 myntfalskj4 2022-07-04

Reparameterization of hyperprior distribution
I'm reading about Bayesian data analysis by Gelman et al. and I'm having big trouble interpreting the following part in the book (note, the rat tumor rate θ in the following text has: θ B e t a ( α , β ):
Choosing a standard parameterization and setting up a ‘noninformative’ hyperprior dis- tribution. Because we have no immediately available information about the distribution of tumor rates in populations of rats, we seek a relatively diffuse hyperprior distribution for ( α , β ). Before assigning a hyperprior distribution, we reparameterize in terms of logit ( α α + β ) = log ( α β ) and log ( α + β ), which are the logit of the mean and the logarithm of the ‘sample size’ in the beta population distribution for θ . It would seem reasonable to assign independent hyperprior distributions to the prior mean and ‘sample size,’ and we use the logistic and logarithmic transformations to put each on a ( , ) scale. Unfortunately, a uniform prior density on these newly transformed parameters yields an improper posterior density, with an infinite integral in the limit ( α + β ) , and so this particular prior density cannot be used here.
In a problem such as this with a reasonably large amount of data, it is possible to set up a ‘noninformative’ hyperprior density that is dominated by the likelihood and yields a proper posterior distribution. One reasonable choice of diffuse hyperprior density is uniform on ( α α + β , ( α + β ) 1 / 2 ), which when multiplied by the appropriate Jacobian yields the following densities on the original scale,
p ( α , β ) ( α + β ) 5 / 2 ,
and on the natural transformed scale:
p ( log ( α β ) , log ( α + β ) ) α β ( α + β ) 5 / 2 .
My problem is especially the bolded parts in the text.
Question (1): What does the author explicitly mean by: "is uniform on ( α α + β , ( α + β ) 1 / 2 )"
Question (2): What is the appropriate Jacobian?
Question (3): How does the author arrive into the original and transformed scale priors?
To me the book hides many details under the hood and makes understanding difficult for a beginner on the subject due to seemingly ambiguous text.
P.S. if you need more information, or me to clarify my questions please let me know.

Pre-AlgebraAnswered question
ntaraxq ntaraxq 2022-07-04

Generating Sets From Given Information
The problem I am working on is:
The three most popular options on a certain type of new car are a built-in GPS (A), a sunroof (B), and an automatic transmission (C). If 40% of all purchasers request A, 55% request B, 70% request C, 63% request A or B, 77% request A or C, 80% request B or C, and 85% request A or B or C, determine the probabilities of the following events. [Hint: “Aor B” is the event that at least one of the two options is requested; try drawing a Venn diagram and labeling all regions.]
a.The next purchaser will request at least one of the three options.
b.The next purchaser will select none of the three options.
c. The next purchaser will request only an automatic transmission and not either of the other two options.
d.The next purchaser will select exactly one of these three options.
I am absolutely positive that P ( A ) = 40 %, P ( B ) = 55 %, P ( C ) = 70 %, and P ( A B C ) = 85 %. However, the pieces of data I am not quite certain about are P ( A B C ) = 63 %, P ( A C B ) = 77 %, P ( B C A ) = 80 %, do these values correspond to the rest of the data? If so, then I seems nearly impossible to be able to generate the Venn Diagram. Could someone help?
EDIT: What I am having a difficult time interpreting is, when they say in the question, "...63% request A or B." To me, that says only A or only B; and under this interpretation I would write P ( A B C ) = 63 %. Under André Nicolas' interpretation, "63% request A or B," means P ( A B ) = 63 %. If it is the case that André Nicolas is correct, then it seems like they should have stated in the question, "63% request A or B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C."
Also, I solved the problem under André Nicolas' assumption, and for part d), I know the answer but I am sure how to put in it math symbols. How would I do that?

Interpreting data questions are mostly approached with the help of complex word problems where logic always comes first. Take a look at the list of questions posted below and see how certain equations have been used. The majority of answers presented will have a free take on things as there are no definite rules in certain scenarios. Reading through these solutions will help you learn how to interpret and read various scientific data. It is an essential aspect for engineers and architects, as well as students majoring in sociology or related sciences.