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yamitenshi
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« on: January 01, 2012, 04:56:45 PM »

I wrote up an article about scientific research, that might be of use to help people either understand their own achievements and differentiate these from random coincidences, and it might even help to get some solid evidence towards any paranormal phenomena.

The point is, I've written it in Word, and as such, it would be a bit of a chore to convert it to an HTML page or something that can be posted on a forum.

I've uploaded it on Megaupload in .docx and .pdf format, which can be accessed here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YZ8MPC8H (DOCX)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HZM8QVU0 (PDF)

If it's good enough to be of any use but an HTML page or a forum-viewable format is preferred, I'll happily sit down and convert it to something usable, but first I'd like to know if anybody even wants it. Of course, any criticism is also welcome.

I'm looking forward to your reactions!
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flamedancer
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« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2012, 09:48:33 PM »

Your probability formula is wrong. You would use a Bayesian formula. The correct formula is:
P(A|B)=P(B|A)P(A)/P(B)
An Intuitive (and Short) Explanation of Bayes' Theorem

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yamitenshi
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« Reply #2 on: January 02, 2012, 08:12:03 AM »

Really? I was approaching this as a normally distributed set, which might have been wrong.

I'm actually familiar with Bayes's theorem, but this assumes three values: a priori odds, a posteriori odds, and a likelihood ratio. We can calculate the likelihood ratio, but these are the a posteriori odds in my example. What Bayes's theorem is most useful for is to calculate the probability of evidence being circumstantial when other data is present. However, in most experiments, no other data will be present (otherwise your experiment is probably wrong). Also, no a priori odds are present.

It might be possible to express how valuable your evidence is by calculating the likelihood ratio, taking the blank experiment as being the a priori odds and the actual test as the a posteriori odds, but it's fairly hard to express a minimum value which would count as actual proof. Aside from that, increasing the number of experiments will increase the significance, but will not increase the likelihood ratio resulting from a bayesian formula, which I personally feel does not properly show the value of attained results.

For this reason, I think it's better to approach experiments like these as being normally distributed sets of data, but this is of course very much dependent on the experiment being run.
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flamedancer
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« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2012, 11:16:13 AM »

Really? I was approaching this as a normally distributed set, which might have been wrong.

I'm actually familiar with Bayes's theorem, but this assumes three values: a priori odds, a posteriori odds, and a likelihood ratio. We can calculate the likelihood ratio, but these are the a posteriori odds in my example. What Bayes's theorem is most useful for is to calculate the probability of evidence being circumstantial when other data is present. However, in most experiments, no other data will be present (otherwise your experiment is probably wrong). Also, no a priori odds are present.

It might be possible to express how valuable your evidence is by calculating the likelihood ratio, taking the blank experiment as being the a priori odds and the actual test as the a posteriori odds, but it's fairly hard to express a minimum value which would count as actual proof. Aside from that, increasing the number of experiments will increase the significance, but will not increase the likelihood ratio resulting from a bayesian formula, which I personally feel does not properly show the value of attained results.

For this reason, I think it's better to approach experiments like these as being normally distributed sets of data, but this is of course very much dependent on the experiment being run.

What you have structured in that article is not a conditional probability; therefore, it is not a hypothetical set up, for a hypothesis is a conditional statistical set up. You are correct in that it assumes an an priori value; however, all scientific hypothesis have to have one. It seems that you used the very trivial Kolmogorov axioms where P(Ω) = 1 where the sum of the measurements for the subspace add up to P(E); however, this tells you nothing, scientifically. What it seems like you have done is that you took the basic axioms of what a probability is - P(E), where you have then combined it with enumerable instances, added up the sum, and came up with a value that doesn't give you an a priori value. Bayes Theorem basically is P(A) (the prior belief that x will happen) relative to P(B) (the inverse of x not happening). What you have in that article basically just says that if we add up the measurements of a subset, we get a probability; however, it does not provide statistical criteria if a hypothesis holds true. Your approach to experimental set up doesn't given one a criteria on which it is disproven or proven. Since we have no a priori value to compare the a posteri value to, I don't see what increasing experiments will do. P(E)=1 just simply says that something is a total probability or that something is a non-zero probability. It has no hypothetical relevance.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2012, 06:29:33 AM by flamedancer » Logged


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yamitenshi
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« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2012, 03:09:35 PM »

You raise a very valid point, I'll have to think about how to put this into the article. Indeed, the a posteriori odds calculated in the psiwheel example have no meaning, since you have nothing to compare it to (i.e. no a priori odds). Bayes's theorem is therefore indeed a better way to go about this, since you can set a criterium to the likelihood ratio (which is in fact the influence of your actions expressed numerically), which is in turn needed to properly test the validity of your hypothesis. Furthermore, the increase of significance with increasing experiments will eventually lead to a significant result even without any deviation from the a priori odds.

I stand corrected, good sir!
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yamitenshi
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« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2012, 11:16:10 AM »

Sorry for the long delay and the double post, but I have corrected my article.
There are again two versions, a .docx version and a .pdf version. The links are:

http://www.MegaShare.com/3930601 (DOCX version)
http://www.MegaShare.com/3930604 (PDF version)

Again, any feedback is more than welcome!
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If it looks good, you'll see it.
If it sounds good, you'll hear it.
If it's marketed right, you'll buy it.
But if it's real... You'll feel it.
~Kid Rock

Disclaimer: Any of the above information may be false, ridiculous, or otherwise not advisable to accept as absolute truth. Also, cheese.
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