- Posts: 1436
- Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:17 pm
MtheB wrote:goffchile
thank you, that's a very important point.
I just called a very good friend of mine who is a math professor, and proposed the probability question to him.
here is his response:
The chance of the three best owners, randomly placed in a league, ending up in the same division is 5.45%, so that is basically a 1 in 20 chance. So it is not common for it to happen, but it can happen (approx once in 20 leagues)
He explained that in statistic analysis there is what is called The P value, which is the point at which if a result is above the P value, there is high confidence that it is a random result. If it is below the P value, then the result is suspect. 5 % is considered established P value, so a 5.45% is basically borderline, but still above the P value.
So unless this happens as a regular recurring pattern, then it most likely is a random result.
I'm gonna have to challenge those numbers. And if I'm wrong your math professor friend can slap me around and call me silly ... BUT ...
The 1ST manager is a given as they can be in ANY DIVISION meaning a 1 in 1 chance.
The 2nd manager has a 3 in 11 chance of ending up in that same division as the first manager.
The 3rd manager has a 2 in 10 chance of ending up in the same division as the first two managers.
And the 4th manager has a 1 in 9 chance of ending up in the same division as the first three managers.
So, unless there is a flaw in my logic (which of course is entirely possible), that's a 6 in 990 chance of occurring which is far less than 5.45%, it's about a 0.6% chance.
THEN AGAIN, I COULD BE WRONG ...