Continuity Correction - Applications

Applications

Before the ready availability of statistical software having the ability to evaluate probability distribution functions accurately, continuity corrections played an important role in the practical application of statistical tests in which the test statistic has a discrete distribution: it was a special importance for manual calculations. A particular example of this is the binomial test, involving the binomial distribution, as in checking whether a coin is fair. Where extreme accuracy is not necessary, computer calculations for some ranges of parameters may still rely on using continuity corrections to improve accuracy while retaining simplicity.