Thank you Nick!
I am trying to get hold of book called Zero describing how this number
has been across different cultures (Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous
Idea).
Best regards
ziad
On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 9:03 AM, Nick Cox <[email protected]> wrote:
> One feature of Statalist is its scope for discussion across quite
> different groups.
>
> I find endless minor fascination in the way that the same concepts
> acquire different names (and also how different concepts acquire the
> same name, although that's not the story here).
>
> As I mentioned in a thread recently, whether zeros are to be believed or
> not has attracted a variety of terminology. I give here terms I can
> think of encountering, and my question is whether anyone can add to the
> list. The point is not to think thesaurus-like of other terms that could
> be used, but to report terms you have found repeatedly in some
> literature or among some group.
>
> That is, for variables that could be zero or positive, zeros are
> commonly divided into two classes.
>
> 1. Zero may be observed, or more precisely reported, but that is not to
> be taken that the zero is absolutely true if there is no compelling
> reason to expect zero under all circumstances.
>
> Suppose I survey 2000 U.S. citizens, and none of them tell me that they
> would like Bill Gould to be President. That does not mean that no-one
> anywhere wants Bill Gould as President, just that I didn't find anyone.
>
> Or suppose a lab tells me that the concentration of some compound in a
> sample of soil or water is zero. That doesn't mean necessarily that
> there are definitely no molecules of that compound present, just that
> the technology didn't detect any.
>
> Such zeros are known in various groups as
> Random zeros
> Sampling zeros
> Rounded zeros
> Non-detects
>
> 2. Zero is observed and that's right. A positive value is impossible or
> inconceivable.
>
> Pregnant males used to be the canonical example. (No, don't tell me
> about the exceptions.) Note that the term "real zeros" is bespoke.
>
> Such zeros are known in various groups as
> Fixed zeros
> Structural zeros
> Essential zeros
>
> Any more?
>
> Nick
> [email protected]
>
>
>
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