What to use to express the variability of data: Standard deviation or standard error of mean?
What to use to express the variability of data: Standard deviation or standard error of mean?
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DOI：
10.4103/2229-3485.100662
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发表时间：
2012-07
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Barde PJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Barde MP;Barde PJ
统计学在生物医学研究中起着至关重要的作用。它有助于准确地呈现数据并得出有意义的结论。在提供数据时，应注意使用适当的统计措施。在生物医学期刊中，平均值的标准误差（SEM）和标准偏差（SD）可互换使用来表示变异性;尽管它们测量不同的参数。SEM量化了平均值估计值的不确定性，而SD表示数据与平均值的离散度。由于读者通常对了解样本内的变异性感兴趣，因此描述性数据应使用SD精确总结。SEM的使用应限于计算CI，CI用于衡量总体估计的精度。期刊可以通过要求作者遵守他们的准则来避免这种错误。
Statistics plays a vital role in biomedical research. It helps present data precisely and draws the meaningful conclusions. While presenting data, one should be aware of using adequate statistical measures. In biomedical journals, Standard Error of Mean (SEM) and Standard Deviation (SD) are used interchangeably to express the variability; though they measure different parameters. SEM quantifies uncertainty in estimate of the mean whereas SD indicates dispersion of the data from mean. As readers are generally interested in knowing the variability within sample, descriptive data should be precisely summarized with SD. Use of SEM should be limited to compute CI which measures the precision of population estimate. Journals can avoid such errors by requiring authors to adhere to their guidelines.