"John Knight" <johnknight at usa.com> wrote in message
news:kQK29.56711$Fq6.4999392 at news2.west.cox.net...
>> "Parse Tree" <parsetree at hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:gj529.2150$9g7.421107 at news20.bellglobal.com...> > "Bob LeChevalier" <lojbab at lojban.org> wrote in message
> > news:i1mhkugkvkveqhjlbsfjr5bo4jaduimbqh at 4ax.com...> > > "Parse Tree" <parsetree at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > >> The larger the sample size, the smaller the deviation from 25%.
> TIMSS
> > was
> > > >a
> > > >> large enough sample size that a 3% standard error is conservative.
> > > >
> > > >I don't know the size of the sample. Was it 10 000?
> > >
> > > For the 12th grade math questions, N for the US was 2795. Only 2
> > > other countries had a sample size over 2000, and Cyprus had the
> > > smallest sample at N=190.
> >
> > Ha ha ha!! That's not really big enough to get an accurate picture.
> >
> > I assumed that it was simply given to every student in the country that
> was
> > of the required grade.
> >
>> You "assumed" what?
>> Not only are your assumptions dead wrong, but so are your conclusions, and
> analysis, and for that matter, your entire participation in this forum.
> 2,795 is MORE than enough American students to get a plus or minus 3%
> standard error, which means that you just proved that you know less than
> nothing about probability and statistics.
About 1400 women? And you think that reflects all women in the country?
You are wrong.
> With the difference between us and Singapore being 143 points, the minimum
> difference, even if both countries were at the tail ends of that 3%, is
> still more than 120 points. And the probability that this happened is
> essentially zero. The only ranking that might be questioned is with the
> countries which scored within plus or minus 3% of us at the 8th grade
level,
> except that most of those who participated in the 12th grade test scored
> MUCH higher at that level
>http://christianparty.net/timss8thv12thmechanics.gif>> This study is as objective and fair as it can be. It's not easy for
entire
> countries to cheat on a study like this, because there are so many ways
for
> them to get caught if they even try, just as Israel got caught. We ranked
> just as low on the 1999 TIMSS study as we did on the 1995 study, and as we
> did on IAEP http://christianparty.net/iaep.htm
Canada has a greater number of years in High School.
