%0 Journal Article
%T Understanding Our Markov Chain Significance Test: A Reply to Cho and Rubinstein-Salzedo
%A Alan Frieze
%A Maria Chikina
%A Wesley Pegden
%J Statistics and Public Policy
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.1080/2330443X.2019.1615396
%X Abstract The article of Cho and Rubinstein-Salzedo seeks to cast doubt on our previous paper, which described a rigorous statistical test which can be applied to reversible Markov chains. In particular, Cho and Rubinstein-Salzedo seem to suggest that the test we describe might not be a reliable indicator of gerrymandering, when the test is applied to certain redistricting Markov chains. However, the examples constructed by Cho and Rubinstein-Salzedo in fact demonstrate a different point: that our test is not the same as another class of gerrymandering tests, which Cho and Rubinstein-Salzedo prefer. But we agree and emphasized this very distinction in our original paper. In this reply, we reply to the criticisms of Cho and Rubinstein-Salzedo, and discuss, more generally, the advantages of the various tests available in the context of detecting gerrymandering of political districtings
%U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2330443X.2019.1615396