Statistics Can Reduce Internet Fraud Essay -- Research Analysis

Many online sell sites help consumers bid on items they might regard to possess. These sites include eBay, WebStore, ebid, OnlineAuction, OZtion, Overstock, and a whole slew of others. Currently there is no system to protect consumers from fraudulent sales. When someone bids for an item, consumers trust both the vendor and the online auctioneer to be both honest and ethical when presenting items for bid. Many of the auction houses, including Sothebys and Christies have their experts examine each piece to prove authenticity. However, it is not exclusively bad news. To help protect consumers from fraud, Joseph Gastwirth and Wesley Johnson have found that the use of statistics answers the conundrum of authenticity. Joseph Gastwirth is a professor of Statistics and economics at George Washington University. Wesley Johnson is a Professor of Statistics at the University of California at Irvine. These dickens men have worked together to produce an article for fu ture print in the Journal of the munificent Statistical Society called Series A Statistics in Society. This paper examines the catch article published in the conditional relation Magazine entitled hold up you to buy a Henry Moore on eBay. Using statistics enables then to recognize where the frauds are lurking. The Statistics Gastwirth and Johnson apply a regularity similar to that of the Hui-Walter method used to estimate the accuracy rates of clinical tests and survey classifications. (Gastwirth & Johnson, 2011) This test method utilizes two subpopulations, each with its own prevalence. In the case of the test for enfranchisement of Henry Moores on the Internet, the two subpopulations were drawings and sculptures, and the second was lithographs and etchings. These two gro... ...hnson, 2011) Figure 2 represents the maximum likelihood estimates of the two prevalence parameters and accuracy rates of the two evaluators. Maximum likelihood estimates were obtained using the EM algorithm with standard errors found on the bootstrap using the program TAGS. (Gastwirth & Johnson, 2011) TAGS, is a program for the valuation of test accuracy in the absence of a gold standard. consequently with all questions from Darrell Huffs book How to Lie With Statistics answered, we can safely and accurately resolve that the method used by Gastwirth and Johnson can and should be used by those who intend to purchase artwork off the Internet. Works CitedGastwirth, J. & Johnson, W. (2011, March 14). hardihood you to buy a Henry Moore on eBay? Statistics can tell you what to avoid. Significance Magazine, 8(1), 10-14. doi10.1111/j.1740-9713.2011.00470x.