Clinical Biostatistics: Lucky for Spurs?, suggested answer 3

This website is for students following the M.Sc. in Evidence Based Practice at the University of York.

Is it "Lucky for Spurs if the year ends in one"?

Whether Totenham Hotspur won a trophy by last digit of year at the end of the season

	Ends in a “1”	Doesn’t end in a “1”	Total
Trophy	8	8	16
No trophy	1	73	74
Total	9	81	90
Fisher's exact test: P<0.00001
(1915-18 and 1940-45 excluded)

3. Why is it wrong to apply a significance test to this table?

Suggested answer

This is a data-generated hypothesis. It is only being tested because the relationship has been observed. Having observed it, we can only test it using a new data set. The only way to do this is to look at what happens in the 21st century.

Spurs lost in 2001.

I do not think there is such a thing as luck, only chance.

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Last updated: 31 July, 2006.

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