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Representing data numerically: Difference between revisions
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== Standard deviation or standard error == | == Standard deviation or standard error == | ||
The [[wikipedia:Standard deviation|standard deviation]] is a way to represent how much your data is spread. The larger the standard deviation, the further apart are your data points. You will often find the standard deviation abbreviated as SD or | The [[wikipedia:Standard deviation|standard deviation]] is a way to represent how much your data is spread. The larger the standard deviation, the further apart are your data points. You will often find the standard deviation abbreviated as SD or s. | ||
The [[wikipedia:standard error (statistics)|standard error of the mean]], on the other hand, is an easy way to represent the precision of the measured mean. This is probably what you want to do most of the time, unless you are interested in describing the breadth of spread. The standard error is often abbreviated as SE, SEM, or S<sub>E</sub>. | The [[wikipedia:standard error (statistics)|standard error of the mean]], on the other hand, is an easy way to represent the precision of the measured mean. This is probably what you want to do most of the time, unless you are interested in describing the breadth of spread. The standard error is often abbreviated as SE, SEM, or S<sub>E</sub>. | ||
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Papers: | Papers: | ||
* [http://www. | * [http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/331/7521/903 "Standard deviations and standard errors", Altman and Bland, BMJ 2005] | ||
