Inclusive and exclusive classes.

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter dE_logics
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Classes
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the definitions and implications of inclusive and exclusive classes in the context of interval notation, particularly in mathematical and statistical applications. Participants explore how to construct class intervals that avoid overlap and ensure all values are accounted for.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that an inclusive interval includes all values from the starting point up to and including the endpoint, while others argue that it should only include values up to but not including a specific point just above the endpoint.
  • One participant suggests that exclusive intervals should contain values starting from the lower limit and ending just before the upper limit, indicating a need for careful construction of classes to avoid data repetition.
  • Another participant introduces the concept of half-open intervals, which are inclusive on one side and exclusive on the other, as a method for dividing ranges into non-overlapping intervals.
  • There is a request for references regarding the definitions of inclusive and exclusive intervals, highlighting some confusion among participants about their proper usage in statistics.
  • A later reply expresses confidence in the conclusions drawn about inclusive and exclusive intervals, indicating a personal resolution to the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the definitions and implications of inclusive and exclusive intervals, with no clear consensus reached on the correct interpretations or applications.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved issues regarding the precise definitions of inclusive and exclusive intervals, as well as the implications of using half-open intervals. Some participants note that their understanding may differ based on context or specific applications in statistics.

dE_logics
Messages
742
Reaction score
0
Am I right about this -

Inclusive -
This basically means that suppose in the interval -
x – y
The range starts from x and ends after y, that is including all possible values of y.
So if we have a class interval 5 – 10 which is inclusive, then it will include 10.9999999999999999999999999999999999...
When constructing classes off this, since all values in the range of value 10 are included in 5 – 10, the next class should start from 11 to include new values. If it starts form 10, it will be invalid since it will include repetition of data.
0 - 5
6 – 11
12 – 17
etc...

Exclusive -
For an interval -
x – y
if this interval is exclusive, it will mean that values in this class starts from x and ends before y, that is it contains all values in the range of the constant y – 1.
So subtraction is exclusive.
For example class 5 – 10 will include values till 9.999999999999999999999999999999999
When constructing classes using exclusive intervals, we need to do it such that all possible values of variables come into it.
So construction of exclusive classes will be like -
0 - 5
5 – 10
10 – 15
The reason for including 10 in the next class is cause first class does not contain values in the domain 10.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Ok, the definition of inclusive was wrong...this is the right one -

Inclusive -
This basically means that suppose in the interval -
x – y
The range starts from x and ends at y, that is including all possible values of y-1.
So if we have a class interval 5 – 10 which is inclusive, then it will include 10 or end at 10, 10.00000000000000000000000000...1 won't be included in this class interval but 9.999999999999999999999999999999999 – 10 will be.
Using this strategy, if we want to include all possible values of a variable while making groups, we have to do this -
0 – 5
5.000000000000000000000000000...1 – 9.0000000000000000000000...1
9.0000000000000000...2 – 14.0000000000000000000000000000000...2
and so on.
This is the consequence of the fact that 0 – 5 will contain all values TILL 5, so to ensure that there's no data loss (or repetition) in between the classes, the next class should start with “5.000000000000000000000000000...1”...since this is really not defined, we use -
0 - 5
6 – 11
12 – 17
etc...
In this case, the values between 5 and 6 have been omitted...i.e if we have a value greater than 5 and less than 6, we don't have any place to place them.
Such classes, although will not be continuous, is at least writable, so by formal define such classes as above are called 'inclusive' cause they are assumed to have included the value of the class limit.


No answers...no wonder Physics geeks can't do business...
 
Hi dE_logics! :smile:

I don't really understand your question. :confused:

"inclusive interval", more usually called "closed interval", written [x,y], means all numbers ≥ x and ≤ y

"exclusive interval", more usually called "open interval", written (x,y), means all numbers > x and < y

Is that what you meant?
 
Like tiny-tim said, use interval notation.

If you want to divide a range of numbers into non-overlapping intervals, the easiest way to do it is to use half-open intervals.

[a, b) is the set of all numbers x where a <= x < b. It's called half-open (or half closed or "clopen") because it's inclusive on one side and exclusive on the other. If you have two such half-open intervals [a, b) and [b, c), they push up right next to each other with no overlap. If x is between a and b, it is in the first class. If x is between b and c, it's in the second class. If x = b, then it's also in the second class, due to the fact b is only inclusive in [b, c).

This trick is extremely useful in programming. For example, in Python, the function range(n) returns the list of numbers [0, 1, ..., n-1]. This is the interval [0, n) for integers. And the slice notation, list[a:b], returns the sublist containing the elements of list whose indexes are in [a, b).
 
"exclusive interval", more usually called "open interval", written (x,y), means all numbers > x and < y

Can you provide some reference?...in terms of statistics...cause I read everywhere that all numbers >= x and < y
 
dE_logics said:
Can you provide some reference?...in terms of statistics...cause I read everywhere that all numbers >= x and < y

(have a ≥ :wink:)

That looks like the half-open interval, [x,y), that Tac-Tics :smile: mentioned.

(But I think you can use anything, so long as they all fit together)
 
Ok then, I'm quiet sure about what I concluded...thanks!
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
4K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
Replies
26
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
3K