O problema de testar hipóteses sobre proporções marginais de uma tabela de contingência assume papel fundamental, por exemplo, na investigação da mudança de opinião e comportamento. Apesar disso, a maioria dos textos na literatura abordam procedimentos para populações independentes, como o teste de homogeneidade de proporções. Existem alguns trabalhos que exploram testes de hipóteses em caso de respostas dependentes como, por exemplo, o teste de McNemar para tabelas 2 x 2. A extensão desse teste para tabelas k x k, denominado teste de homogeneidade marginal, usualmente requer, sob a abordagem clássica, a utilização de aproximações assintóticas. Contudo, quando o tamanho amostral é pequeno ou os dados esparsos, tais métodos podem eventualmente produzir resultados imprecisos. Neste trabalho, revisamos medidas de evidência clássicas e bayesianas comumente empregadas para comparar duas proporções marginais. Além disso, desenvolvemos o Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST) para testar a homogeneidade marginal em tabelas de contingência bidimensionais e multidimensionais. O FBST é baseado em uma medida de evidência, denominada e-valor, que não depende de resultados assintóticos, não viola o princípio da verossimilhança e respeita a várias propriedades lógicas esperadas para testes de hipóteses. Consequentemente, a abordagem ao problema de teste de homogeneidade marginal pelo FBST soluciona diversas limitações geralmente enfrentadas por outros procedimentos. / Tests of hypotheses for marginal proportions in contingency tables play a fundamental role, for instance, in the investigation of behaviour (or opinion) change. However, most texts in the literature are concerned with tests that assume independent populations (e.g: homogeneity tests). There are some works that explore hypotheses tests for dependent proportions such as the McNemar Test for 2 x 2 contingency tables. The generalization of McNemar test for k x k contingency tables, called marginal homogeneity test, usually requires asymptotic approximations. Nevertheless, for small sample sizes or sparse tables, such methods may occasionally produce imprecise results. In this work, we review some classical and Bayesian measures of evidence commonly applied to compare two marginal proportions. We propose the Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST) to investigate marginal homogeneity in two-way and multidimensional contingency tables. The FBST is based on a measure of evidence, called e-value, which does not depend on asymptotic results, does not violate the likelihood principle and satisfies logical properties that are expected from hypothesis testing. Consequently, the FBST approach to test marginal homogeneity overcomes several limitations usually met by other procedures.

Resume The thesis is focused on the usage of statistical and substantive significance in the Czech social science. The thesis consists of four articles (3 published, 1 unpublished yet), introduction and conclusion including practical recommendations. The aim of the thesis is theoretically describe the current " standards" in the use of statistical and substantive significance and through research (content analysis) of articles published in the three leading Czech journals (Czechoslovak Psychology , Pedagogy and Czech Sociological Journal) empirically assess whether the published articles adhere to the " standards" in the field of statistics and the substantive significance of the results . Basic research question was: How are current " standards" followed in the use of statistical and substantive significance in the Czech social science production? In addition to the basic research questions were additional (auxiliary) research questions: What are the basic limits of statistical significance, i.e. in which cases statistical tests are not appropriate to use? What are the shortcomings of statistical significance itself, and what are the most common problems in the practical use of it by researchers? What are the alternatives to the concept of statistical significance? How is it possible to assess the...

Dans cette thèse, je présente ma contribution à l'observation d'un nouveau boson au LHC avec le détecteur ATLAS dans le canal de désintégration en deux photons. Ce boson est compatible avec le boson scalaire du Modèle Standard longtemps recherché et a une masse de 126.0 +/-0.4 (stat) +/-0.4 (sys) GeV obtenue en combinant les canaux gamma gamma et ZZ. Les données utilisées sont celles collectées par l'expérience ATLAS durant l'année 2011 avec une énergie de centre de masse de 7 TeV et durant les trois premiers mois du run en 2012 avec une énergie de centre de masse de 8 TeV. La luminosité totale correspondante est de ~10 fb-1. L'excès observé a une significance locale de 4.5 sigma dans le canal gamma gamma et de 5.9 sigma en combinant tous les canaux analysés. De même, diverses contributions aux analyses des données, dans le canal H en gamma gamma, depuis l'année 2009 jusqu'en 2012 sont aussi montrées. / In this thesis, I show my contribution to the observation of a new boson at the Large Hadron Collider with the ATLAS detector in the diphoton decay channel. This boson is compatible with the long-searched scalar boson of the Standard Model and has a mass of 126.0+/-0.4+/- 0.4 (sys) GeV obtained when combining the decay channels gamma gamma and ZZ. The data used were collected in the ATLAS experiment during 2011 with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and during the first three months of the 2012 run with a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The total corresponding luminosity is about 10 fb-1. The observed excess has a local significance of 4.5 sigma in the gamma gamma channel and has a significance of 5.9 sigma when combining all the channels used in the analysis. Moreover, diverse contributions to the H into gamma gamma analyses of the data from 2009 to 2012 are also shown.

Throughout history, people have made or acquired vessels from which to sip their favourite beverage. In the contemporary domestic setting, households frequently accumulate multiples of the same type of object in numbers that are considerably greater than is necessary and practical for use alone. Of these many objects there are often individual pieces that have special significance for the owner or user. Some are so valued that they may even be removed and set aside because of their perceived importance. The research was initiated by a previous study of tea drinking vessels coupled with a desire, as an object maker and collector, to find out why people have special items that they designate as personally important. The aim was to identify how significance could be recognised in specific objects and whether the notion that a group of features used to gauge such objects could be conveyed into studio based work. The research outcomes are evidenced in a text-based document (which articulates the theoretical and empirical elements of the enquiry) and a body of creative studio work developed in response to aspects of the investigation. The document encompasses two components of the study. The first references material from the fields of museum and cultural studies, pivotal in focusing the enquiry. This contributed to the compilation of a general and speculative inventory of qualities that might pertain to objects deemed ???significant???. During these early investigations it became evident that a more in depth and contemporary analysis of significant drinking vessels, their owners and/or users was required. A Survey Questionnaire regarding personal use and special drinking vessels preceded a series of Interviews with a selected group of Australia curators, artists, academics and collectors who discussed and analysed their association with a personally significant drinking vessel. Subsequently, the content of these interviews became central to the focus of the research and outcomes. The research isolates a number of attributes that are commonly identified in objects that, whatever their condition, are deemed ???significant???. These describe the maker, usage, ownership, association and historical context. The perceived value or worth of the object for its owner, is recognised as a consequence of significance and declares the object as distinctive. This outcome is clearly validated by the interviews. The studio work develops from the fusion of personal narrative that has been enhanced by findings of the research. In particular, it references the cherished object, most especially those pieces that have been retained despite the ravages of time and use. The resulting work was exhibited as Trace Elements ??? Marking Time: Significance, the Vessel and the Domestic at Kudos Gallery, Paddington in April 2004.

Throughout history, people have made or acquired vessels from which to sip their favourite beverage. In the contemporary domestic setting, households frequently accumulate multiples of the same type of object in numbers that are considerably greater than is necessary and practical for use alone. Of these many objects there are often individual pieces that have special significance for the owner or user. Some are so valued that they may even be removed and set aside because of their perceived importance. The research was initiated by a previous study of tea drinking vessels coupled with a desire, as an object maker and collector, to find out why people have special items that they designate as personally important. The aim was to identify how significance could be recognised in specific objects and whether the notion that a group of features used to gauge such objects could be conveyed into studio based work. The research outcomes are evidenced in a text-based document (which articulates the theoretical and empirical elements of the enquiry) and a body of creative studio work developed in response to aspects of the investigation. The document encompasses two components of the study. The first references material from the fields of museum and cultural studies, pivotal in focusing the enquiry. This contributed to the compilation of a general and speculative inventory of qualities that might pertain to objects deemed ???significant???. During these early investigations it became evident that a more in depth and contemporary analysis of significant drinking vessels, their owners and/or users was required. A Survey Questionnaire regarding personal use and special drinking vessels preceded a series of Interviews with a selected group of Australia curators, artists, academics and collectors who discussed and analysed their association with a personally significant drinking vessel. Subsequently, the content of these interviews became central to the focus of the research and outcomes. The research isolates a number of attributes that are commonly identified in objects that, whatever their condition, are deemed ???significant???. These describe the maker, usage, ownership, association and historical context. The perceived value or worth of the object for its owner, is recognised as a consequence of significance and declares the object as distinctive. This outcome is clearly validated by the interviews. The studio work develops from the fusion of personal narrative that has been enhanced by findings of the research. In particular, it references the cherished object, most especially those pieces that have been retained despite the ravages of time and use. The resulting work was exhibited as Trace Elements ??? Marking Time: Significance, the Vessel and the Domestic at Kudos Gallery, Paddington in April 2004.

Despite the obvious importance attached to the psychological significance of height and weight in everyday life, few researchers have studied the relationship of these variables to the sales performance of ordinary life insurance salesmen. In the present study, it was hypothesized that (1) taller and/or heavier ordinary life insurance salesmen are more successful than shorter and/or lighter ordinary life insurance salesmen; (2) those who possess more "ideal statures" are more successful than those who do not; and, secondarily, (3) life insurance companies tend to hire taller and/or heavier applicants for life insurance sales positions. The results of this study offer further support for the view that many sales managers and recruiters tend to believe that "the bigger they are, the better," and to select applicants accordingly, with the qualification that in this sample, female agents were taller, but lighter than average. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the life insurance industry and future investigations.

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Using ethnobotanical, anthropological and social science theory and methods this work illustrates significance of studying traditional foods and their medicinal qualities for maintaining health. Set in the background of the communities¿ practises and rituals specific plant-based items, used by Sikh and Ukrainian migrant communities, are a central focus to understanding the significance of practises and related knowledge for maintaining health and the broader concept of ¿well-being¿. Literature review, participant observation and in-depth interviewing techniques were used to identify 126 species of plants mentioned. These illustrate what was a primarily female domain of knowledge now becoming superficial and spread over domains of both men and women. This study notes convenience in terms of time and transport, changes in markets in the UK, importation of goods and the use of machinery and techniques such as freezing, and intervention by healthcare professionals have all affected the way traditional foods and remedies are perceived and practised. There are key foods which will remain important for generations to come whilst the domains are changing. Specific community structures support maintenance of food practises, including langar within the Sikh community and the regular OAP Ukrainian lunchtime club and numerous food events where foods with particular religious and cultural significance are made by at least two generations. These events involve transmission of knowledge related to foods and their health qualities, including images of strength as a ¿people¿. By questioning the significance of emic perspectives healthcare professionals and policymakers could learn much from practises developed over centuries or millennia.

<p> We study the problem of finding approximate significance points of random variables whose exact distributions are unknown or extremely complicated . We consider the case where at least the first three moments, and possibly the lower or upper endpoint of the distribution are known. </p> <p> The methods of approximation studied include the Johnson system of transformations, Pearson curves, Pearson curves with known lower terminal, Cornish-Fisher expansions and the approximation a+bW, where W is chi-squared with p degrees of freedom . A new three-moment approximation of the form (cW)^k, with W as defined above, is also considered. These methods of approximation are discussed, with special attention to fitting procedures and computer implementation. </p> <p> The methods of approximation are compared, with respect to ease of application and accuracy of approximation, over a wide variety of exact distributions. The accuracy of each approximation is discussed and guidelines are given for determining which of several approximations should be used in a particular case. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Master of Science / Department of Statistics / Leigh W. Murray / The term retrospective power describes methods for estimating the true power of a test after data have been collected. These methods have been recommended by some authors when null hypothesis of a test cannot be rejected. This report uses simulations to study power as a construct of an observed effect, variance, sample size, and set level of significance under the balanced one-way analysis of variance model for normally distributed populations with constant variance. Retrospective power, as a construct of sample data, is not recommended when the null hypothesis of a test cannot be rejected. When the p-value of the test is large, estimates for true power tend to fall below the 0.80 level and width-minimized confidence limits for true power tend to be wide.