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How to accurately, unambiguously and concisely say something in the following cases:

Case 1. The predictor is significant, with 1.5615 times as much likely to get higher scores when it is true.

Case 2. Subjects with A are 1.5615 times as much likely to get higher scores as those without A.

Maybe can I use "chance" instead of "likely" to form the sentence better?

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    Just delete the word much: you cannot say “as much likely”. You might be interested in our sister-site for English Language Learners.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Aug 12, 2013 at 23:10
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    Just drop ‘much’: “X times as likely” is fine. You can also say “more likely”. Your first case is quite unclear, though—I don’t understand what is more likely to get higher scores. As the sentence stands, it is the predictor (whatever exactly that is) that will get higher scores, but that doesn’t seem to make sense. Are you trying to say, “The predictor is significant. You are 1.5615 times as/more likely to get a higher score when the predictor is true”?
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Aug 12, 2013 at 23:11
  • @JanusBahsJacquet yep that's what I wanted to say. I tend to not to use 'more' as it could cause misunderstanding: 2.3 times more likely = 3.3 times as likely. Is there anyway to rephrase the first case, but without breaking into 2 sentences. Maybe use a passive?
    – colinfang
    Commented Aug 13, 2013 at 0:11
  • Just removing "much" in the first case example doesn't fix it. Also substitute "with it being 1.516..." for "with 1.516..."
    – Canis Lupus
    Commented Oct 4, 2013 at 20:43

4 Answers 4

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You could use the word "probability" to state this explicitly:

The predictor is significant; the probability of occurrence of higher scores increases by a factor of 1.5615 when the predictor is true.

I might be misinterpreting your original sentence however. It is possible you are trying to say "...increases by a factor of 0.5615 when the predictor is true."

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More concise would be:

Subjects with A will get higher scores 156.15 percent of the time versus those without A.

We invented words like "percent" before ratios, back in Roman times. A percentage is generally more acceptable in the English language. Scientists or statisticians may not agree on the implications; however, if you want language to convey something mathematical, then you may have no choice than to compromise here.

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You can form concise and accurate sentences using the word 'likelihood' in each case.

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  • This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post.
    – Brian Hooper
    Commented Aug 19, 2013 at 18:06
  • why does this not answer the question?
    – user49727
    Commented Aug 19, 2013 at 18:14
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    For one thing, this is a very short answer. We are looking for answers which provide a good explanation, which generally means a paragraph with some explanation of your answer and a pointer to more information such as online sources where the OP can go to do further research. But this isn't even a complete answer, because you have said the OP can use "likelihood" but haven't explained how the OP should use it. How was, after all, the OP's question.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Aug 19, 2013 at 18:26
  • the how is pretty obvious - short of a beginner's tutorial in the use of english
    – user49727
    Commented Aug 19, 2013 at 18:34
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As two of the comments suggested, you do not need the word "much":

Subjects with A are 1.5615 times as likely to get higher scores as those without A.

The first example was a bit confusing for other reasons but the direct answer to your question is to remove "much".

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