Defining populations by independent variables smuggles in cases the outcome was impossible for

Evidence

It would seem unlikely that a boundary exists between positive observations and irrelevant ones. Indeed, according the Possibility Principle, irrelevant observations are those where the positive outcome is impossible. However, the impossible can happen if an observation is mistakenly put into the irrelevant category, but it in fact has a positive outcome. Thus, at the irrelevant-positive boundary we have a situation where the “impossible happens.” The impossible is likely to happen in research designs where the analyst defines populations without consideration of their value on the dependent variable. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts, 1131

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the ‘irrelevant-positive boundary’ — the point where supposedly impossible outcomes nonetheless occur.