Planning statistical analysis: Wrong and right approaches explained using an entertaining example from everyday life

Abstract

Inferential statistical tests are used to examine hypotheses in research data but can also be applied to information in everyday life. Using data from a cricket tournament as an example, this article describes a plausible but wrong plan of analysis and explains what a correct method of analysis might be. Testing a hypothesis that was set after visual inspection of data or indiscriminate analysis can both result in false-positive conclusions. Making incorrect assumptions in statistical tests will also result in incorrect conclusions. Statistics is not merely about crunching numbers. It is also about knowing how to plan and execute the analysis.

Keywords

• Chi-square goodness-of-fit test
• data mining
• expected frequencies
• false-positive errors
• plan of analysis
• primary hypothesis
• probability