Friday, December 14, 2007

Two by two tables

I wish that simple 2x2 contingency tables were taught in schools, & not just in maths or stats classes

If they were the standard of public understanding/debate on so many issues could be much higher. People who ought to know better ought not be able to get away with as much as they do

If children worked on simple examples we might not have so much hurt & upset over statements like Most muggers are black.

People might understand much better the concept of false positives & negatives in medical screening programmes

Maybe even the nature of the supposed evidence linking various foodstuffs, or medical diseases, & unfortunate outcomes