Poll: Is 9/10 a good enough statistic?

[VanillaBean]

Throughout my life I have seen this interesting debate about the numbers that account for a claim. For example if I say 2/17 of the cats I've seen are lazy then it would be a silly claim to say cats are lazy.

Every now and then I come apon some argument where someone goes "Well nine out of ten people though Black Ops was better the MW2 so it has to be better." Now I know claims like this don't necissarily have to change anybodies opinion, but doesn't that seem like a justifiable argument. A few people I've spoken to seem to disagree, but I think on a logical standpoint a claim such as this makes valid sense.

So what do you think is 9/10 good enough?

 

[Aur0ra145]

What? No statistical evidence other than, "Some dude said."

Also, you must ask yourself, who were they polling, and HOW were the questions being asked.

 

[mad825]

[chance rate] out of [sample] I.e. 1/60 people out of 1000000 die at 98 years old . Otherwise it just pure assumption with very little accuracy.

 

[UbarElite]

Well, I suppose it depends. First, are we talking about 9 out of 10 subjective opinions? If that is the case, it can be completely true, and still not matter when it comes to your own opinion.

Second, did such a survey only sample 10 people? If so, not really a very valid statistic anyway. If it sampled 1,000,000 people, might be more valid.

 

[RicoGrey]

Well, you say 9 out of 10, because you know the person has experienced some who disagree, so you have to leave that 1 person out. Then they feel like "OK, all those people who I have seen disagree were simply that ONE person out of 10".

 

[GiantRaven]

I definitely think that, despite seeming small, 10% is still large enough to warrant merit. Say, for example, there was a disease that killed 1 in 10 people, then I don't think having a survival chance of 9/10 would be 'good enough'.

 

[NeuroticDogDad]

It's significant enough to ignore left-handed people in most things.
However, it has been a few years since I did statistics so I can't really tell you in all the complex ways how vague that statement is.

Also, you must ask yourself, who were they polling, and HOW were the questions being asked.

This. And sample size and all that jazz are important. It's kind of a hard thing to simplify.

TL;DR
Maybe

 

[Drummie666]

Well... IF I understand the question, which I might not, it's not that well worded. No.

Technically the 9 out of 10 people like BlOps to MW2 statement is a logical fallacy. Specifically it is an argumentum ad populum fallacy.

Quoted from wikipedia:
Argumentum ad populum (appeal to belief, appeal to the majority, appeal to the people): where a proposition is claimed to be true or good solely because many people believe it to be so.

There you go.

Again... I might not understand what the OP is asking.

 

[thylasos]

Good enough for what? To make it objective fact? No.

 

[Twilight_guy]

9/10, if it can actually be confirmed is good enough to argue that people like it. Its not a good argument to say that something is right though since 9/10 murders have killed someone and obviously killing people still isn't alright (that last guy is an attempted murder).

 

[mjc0961]

Every now and then I come apon some argument where someone goes "Well nine out of ten people though Black Ops was better the MW2 so it has to be better." Now I know claims like this don't necissarily have to change anybodies opinion, but doesn't that seem like a justifiable argument. A few people I've spoken to seem to disagree, but I think on a logical standpoint a claim such as this makes valid sense.

So what do you think is 9/10 good enough?

It doesn't matter if it's 9/10 or 99,999,999/100,000,000. Their opinions are all still opinions, and that last guy who disagrees with everyone is is not wrong because he's in the minority. Opinions do not become facts by majority vote.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

If you're talking actual statistics, then 9/10 or 90% or a probability of .9 is great.
You're always going to have outliers and groups/people that dont conform with the norm so 9/10 is obviously high.
Does that make opinion fact? no. So i'd say for opinion polls like, is MW2 or Blops better, then no i wouldnt say its very good.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Dont rely soly on statistics if your trying to win over an audience, know your pathos logothos and all those other -os's.

And your oponent can always use the 1/10 against you. Concensus are practically bullet proof, just look at Brown vs the Board of Education

 

[K Graphite]

If 9 out of 10 people say something is good, it's no guarantee it actually is good, because people are stupid.

However, if 9 out of 10 people say X is better than Y, well, there's a good possibility it's actually true, because interestingly, even stupid people have some sort of comparison ability.

I wonder if I can work this into my next conference talk.

 

[FalloutJack]

I never liked statistics. Most often, they're used to make a dubious point look legitimate.

 

[Hoopybees]

I think it kind of depends on what it's a statistic of. If it's like, 9/10 people enjoyed a film, those are pretty good odds. If it's 9/10 people did not go blind after trying a new type of shampoo, those are pretty bad odds.

 

[Professor M]

Throughout my life I have seen this interesting debate about the numbers that account for a claim. For example if I say 2/17 of the cats I've seen are lazy then it would be a silly claim to say cats are lazy.

Every now and then I come apon some argument where someone goes "Well nine out of ten people though Black Ops was better the MW2 so it has to be better." Now I know claims like this don't necissarily have to change anybodies opinion, but doesn't that seem like a justifiable argument. A few people I've spoken to seem to disagree, but I think on a logical standpoint a claim such as this makes valid sense.

So what do you think is 9/10 good enough?

You could do a hypothesis test with more information, but with what's been given I'd say theres not enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis, that is, not enough evidence to suggest that Black Ops is better than MW2.

I hate statistics modules

 

[Lazarus Long]

Quality, in any situation I can think of, is always subjective. Nothing is objectively bad, because someone, somewhere, likes it. Even Tommy Wiseau is proud of The Room. Somebody's mom is proud of the work her kid did on Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. You can try using statistics like that to make a point that something is unpopular, but that doesn't make it bad.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."