Maths: Simpson's Paradox

A back to basics video.

Simpson's Paradox is more than just a curiosity, it illustrates how important it is to interperet your data correctly. If you are not careful it is still possible to have good data and bad conclusions.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• maths
• math
• mathematics
• problem
• puzzle
• simpson's
• simpsons
• paradox
• statistics
• medicine
• drug
• trials
• data
• interpereting

[RUL1S88]

Lol fail, you can't even sum numbers correctly.

[singingbanana]

@RUL1S88 Quickly. I am not adding the fractions which is why I do not say the word 'add'.

[vinnyc88934]

63/90 + 4/10 is not 67/100, it's actually 99/90 which is 11/10

8/10 + 45/90 is not 53/100, it's actually 117/90 which is 13/10

So Drug B is the better drug, not Drug A.

[singingbanana]

@vinnyc88934 According to your arithmetic, Drug B cures 130% - that's a very good drug.

[TheBrimic]

Is this the guy from the Numberphile channel?

[Quintinohthree]

@Quintinohthree

I must then ask the question, what about people not cured the first day? They'll come back, and they could survive that long, so why are they not counted?

[Quintinohthree]

@AdolfHitlerGaming

He explains that this is what we observe. Just think, if you have a drug that will cure 1/2 on day one and 1/2 again on day two, you won't cure everyone, you'll cure half of those coming in on the first day and half of those coming in on the second day, which means half of all.

Hey, I understand it. Kind of. To get the "efficiency" you count the people coming in on a day and divide the people cured by it, to get the total you use the totals of both and then divide.

[AdolfHitlerGaming]

@singingbanana vinnyc is actually right. even tough it seems strange, drug B is owning. I mean, if I used your way of solving stuff, then 1/2 + 2/4 = 3/6 which is totally wrong, as 0.5 + 0.5 = 1, not 0.5 :P

[shyrwinsteelsia]

im just dumbfounded by the amount of idiocy in the comments. those of you who think that this guy is adding fractions are just plain stupid. maybe its too complex for your puny little brains. go watch dumb videos on youtube.

[joeloud1]

Danger Mouse shirt, ftw

[PlasteredDragon]

backlighting makes the subject too dark. Shoot with light on the subject to correct.

[MultiPaulinator]

@MrHellTard He's not trolling. This paradox is the fundamental basis of the phrase "lies, damned lies and statistics." A number of pharmaceutical companies -- not the majority -- have slipped drugs through the FDA by exploiting this problem -- leading to several class-action lawsuits in the past -- and it's how nearly all of Fox News' sources hide their lies.

[finster796]

You remember me of someone... Sheldon?

[HaslamCorp]

DANGER MOUSE!