How do I refer to absolute change in 2 percentages?

Question

I'm writing a paper and I have 45% WER (word error rate) under one condition. Under a different condition, that improves to a 34% WER. It seems incorrect to say that I had an 11% improvement in WER. What would be the correct way to state this?

11/45= ? % that's your decrease in error. – Jan 20 '20 at 17:25 — , Jan 20 '20 at 17:25
So would I say that I had a 24% reduction in WER? – Shamoon Jan 20 '20 at 17:26 — Shamoon, Jan 20 '20 at 17:26
you could also look at 11/55= 1/5= 20% more words correct. – Jan 20 '20 at 17:30 — , Jan 20 '20 at 17:30

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 20 '20 at 17:30

1

You can say, that:

The error has decreased by $11$ percentage points

or

The error has decreased by $24.4\%$

answered Jan 20 '20 at 17:30

Jaroslaw Matlak

4,895

The second of those may still confuse some people who interpret it as the first. – Henry Jan 20 '20 at 17:32
1

that's why stores have sales @Henry – Jan 20 '20 at 17:33
you could also look at 11/55= 1/5= 20% more words correct. – Jan 20 '20 at 17:34
Where did you get 55 from? – Shamoon Jan 20 '20 at 17:36

How do I refer to absolute change in 2 percentages?

1 Answers1