Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2012 March 5

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March 5

What does "diddle factor" mean?

Dear Wikipedians:

In statistics, and ANOVA methods in particular, what does the term "diddle factor" mean?

Thanks,

76.68.42.244 (talk) 01:09, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Could you give us a bit more context? Diddle factors are, by their very nature, highly context-dependent. Qwfp (talk) 11:33, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Hi, so the formula is: $SS_{interaction}=n\Sigma ({\bar {X}}_{ij}-{\bar {X}}_{j}-{\bar {X}}_{i}+{\bar {\bar {X}}})^{2}$, and the authors followed the formula with the paragraph "This is, then, the sum of the differences between the individual cell means and what we would have expected if there were no interaction, with one final diddle factor n for good measure.". the name of the book is "Biostatistics: the bare essentials: third edition" by Geoffrey R. Norman and David L. Streiner. and the formula and the passage are taken out of page 92 in the right column toward the bottom. And also on page 91 left column the authors wrote formula $SS_{i}=nJ\Sigma ({\bar {X}}_{i}-{\bar {\bar {X}}})^{2}$ "where now i is the subscript for the rows (circumcision status), and J is the number of columnss (4). This is simply the squared difference between the two means and the grand mean (again, with a sample size diddle factor)". Also on page 91 right column the authors wrote $SS_{within}=\Sigma (X_{ijk}-{\bar {X}}_{ij})^{2}$ "This is the sum of the squared differences between all the individual data and their respective cell mean (with no diddle factor needed)." 76.68.42.244 (talk) 20:59, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Not really a math question I think, apparently it's an informal term for the amount of error you're willing to live with (or money you're willing to lose without complaining, or trouble you're willing to put up with for the sake of doing the right thing). "Diddle" has a number of meanings but in this case it probably means "swindle", as in Edgar Allan Poe's satirical article "Diddling".--RDBury (talk) 11:44, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

It might be the same as a "fiddle factor" or fudge factor. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:02, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Based on extensive internet research, a Diddle Factor is a factor whose purpose is to "change things so that the equation and the universe appear to fit without requiring any change in either.". Looie496 (talk) 23:14, 5 March 2012 (UTC)