In
statistics, the terms "mathematical elimination" and "mathematically eliminated" mean to be excluded in a decision, based on numerical counts, due to insufficient total numbers, even if all remaining events were 100% in favor. The excluded outcome is considered to be eliminated due to the mathematical
probability
Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an Event (probability theory), event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and ...
being zero (0%).
The term is used in elections when a candidate lacks sufficient votes to win, even if that candidate could garner all remaining votes. In sports, the term "mathematically eliminated"
[
"Blunder Book: Gigantic",
Goldberg Hirsch, M. H. Goldberg, p. 179, 1988, webpage:
]
Books-Google-RgC-179
refers to situations where there are not enough future games or competitive events remaining to be played to avoid defeat, even if all future events were won.
History
The term ''"mathematically eliminated"'' has been in use for more than 100 years,
[
"General Intelligence", Chapter 3,
'']American Journal of Psychology
The ''American Journal of Psychology'' is a journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology. It is the first such journal to be published in the English language (though ''Mind'', founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earl ...
'', Volume XV, No. 1,
January 1904, p. 226, webpage:
-->&lpg=PA226 Book-Google-AAJ
although the meaning has varied. In a 1904 article, in the ''
American Journal of Psychology
The ''American Journal of Psychology'' is a journal devoted primarily to experimental psychology. It is the first such journal to be published in the English language (though ''Mind'', founded in 1876, published some experimental psychology earl ...
'', Volume XV, errors of measurement were described as quantifiable to be "mathematically eliminated" from the analysis of the remaining data.
[
]
References
Voting
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