Standard deviation definition

Uncertainty expresses the range of possible values that a measurement or result might reasonably be expected to have. Note that this definition of uncertainty is not the same as that for precision. The precision of an analysis, whether reported as a range or a standard deviation, is calculated from experimental data and provides an estimation of indeterminate error affecting measurements. Uncertainty accounts for all errors, both determinate and indeterminate, that might affect our result. Although we always try to correct determinate errors, the correction itself is subject to random effects or indeterminate errors. 

Consider, for example, the data in Table 4.1 for the mass of a penny. Reporting only the mean is insufficient because it fails to indicate the uncertainty in measuring a penny s mass. Including the standard deviation, or other measure of spread, provides the necessary information about the uncertainty in measuring mass. Nevertheless, the central tendency and spread together do not provide a definitive statement about a penny s true mass. If you are not convinced that this is true, ask yourself how obtaining the mass of an additional penny will change the mean and standard deviation. 

How we report the result of an experiment is further complicated by the need to compare the results of different experiments. For example. Table 4.10 shows results for a second, independent experiment to determine the mass of a U.S. penny in circulation. Although the results shown in Tables 4.1 and 4.10 are similar, they are not identical thus, we are justified in asking whether the results are in agreement. Unfortunately, a definitive comparison between these two sets of data is not possible based solely on their respective means and standard deviations. 

Sample Statistics Many types of sample statistics will be defined. Two very special types are the sample mean, designated as X, and the sample standard deviation, designated as s. These are, by definition, random variables. Parameters like [L and O are not random variables they are fixed constants. 

The complete mathematical definition of a particle size distribution is often cumbersome and it is more convenient to use one or two single numbers representing say the mean and spread of the distribution. The mean particle size thus enables a distribution to be represented by a single dimension while its standard deviation indicates its spread about the mean. There are two classes of means ... 

The detection limit is another value which is often quoted, and this may be defined in a variety of ways. The most widely accepted definition is that the detection limit is the smallest concentration of a solution of an element that can be detected with 95 per cent certainty. This is the quantity of the element that gives a reading equal to twice the standard deviation of a series of at least ten determinations taken with solutions of concentrations which are close to the level of the blank. 

Mean aud standard deviation The statistical normal curve shows a definite relationship among the mean, the standard deviation, and normal curve. The normal curve is fully defined by the mean, that locates the normal curve, and the standard deviation that describes the shape of the normal curve. A relationship exists between the standard deviation and the area under the curve. 

The standard deviation, 5, is by definition the square root of the variance,... 

For standard deviations, an analogous confidence interval CI(.9jr) can be derived via the F-test. In contrast to Cl(Xmean), ClCij ) is not symmetrical around the most probable value because by definition can only be positive. The concept is as follows an upper limit, on is sought that has the quality of a very precise measurement, that is, its uncertainty must be very small and therefore its number of degrees of freedom / must be very large. The same logic applies to the lower limit. s/ ... 

Results The uncertainties associated with the slopes are very different and n = H2, so that the pooled variance is roughly estimated as (V + V2)/2, see case c in Table 1.10 this gives a pooled standard deviation of 0.020 a simple r-test is performed to determine whether the slopes can be distinguished. (0.831 - 0.673)/0.020 = 7.9 is definitely larger than the critical /-value for p - 0.05 and / = 3 (3.182). Only a test for H[ t > tc makes sense, so a one-sided test must be used to estimate the probability of error, most likely of the order p = 0.001 or smaller. 

A conceptual definition of the follows from consideration of a set of numbers drawn at random from the standard normal distribution, the one with mean zero and standard deviation one. Ordering this set of numbers gives a sequence called order statistics. The are the... 

Note that in data analysis we divide by n in the definition of standard deviation rather than by the factor n - 1 which is customary in statistical inference. Likewise we can relate the product-moment (or Pearson) coefficient of correlation r (Section 8.3.1) to the scalar product of the vectors (x - x) and (y - y) ... 

We see that the energy and time obey an uncertainty relation when At is defined as the period of time required for the expectation value of S to change by one standard deviation. This definition depends on the choice of the dynamical variable S so that At is relatively larger or smaller depending on that choice. If d(S)/dt is small so that S changes slowly with time, then the period At will be long and the uncertainty in the energy will be small. 

Plotting of Inkj (j=l,2,3) versus 1/T shows that only k exhibits Arrhenius type of behavior. However, given the large standard deviations of the other two estimated parameters one cannot draw definite conclusions about these two parameters. 

Once the bone mineral density report is available, T-scores and Z-scores are useful tools in interpreting the data. The T-score is the number of standard deviations from the mean bone mineral density in healthy young white women. Osteoporosis is defined as a T-score at least -2.5 standard deviations below the mean (Table 53-3). Osteopenia, or low bone mass that eventually may lead to osteoporosis, is defined as a T-score between -2.5 and -1.0 standard deviations below the mean. The International Society for Clinical Densitometry recommends use of the WHO definition and T-scores for diagnosis of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and men... 

Note that VTD-variance of Loss Tangent, and that SDTD is the standard deviation of Loss Tangent with similar definitions for GSP (G or real modulus) and GDP (G or loss modulus). 

Figure 54-1, however, still shows a number of characteristics that reveal the behavior of derivatives. First of all, we note that the first derivative crosses the X-axis at the wavelength where the absorbance peak has a maximum, and has maximum values (both positive and negative) at the point of maximum slope of the absorbance bands. These characteristics, of course, reflect the definition of the derivative as a measure of the slope of the underlying curve. For Gaussian bands, the maxima of the first derivatives also correspond to the standard deviation of the underlying spectral curve. 

Precision FIA measurements typically show low relative standard deviations (RSD) on replicate measurements, mainly due to the definite and reproducible way of sample introduction. This is a very important feature especially for CL, which is very sensitive to several environmental factors and sensitivity relies greatly on the rate of the reaction. 

Note that the categories relate only to how the estimate was obtained, and not to whether the uncertainty is due to a random or a systematic effect. Type A uncertainty estimates are, by definition, expressed as a standard deviation. Type B uncertainty estimates can take a number of different forms, and may need to be converted to a standard uncertainty prior to combination with other uncertainty estimates. This is discussed later in this section. 

The large astrolabe (number 6) was dismantled into 16 parts, and was found to be made from broadly similar (but definitely not identical) metal. The average zinc content is around 13%, but the range on the 16 parts analysed is from 9.0 to 20.9% hence the relatively large standard deviation. Similarly, the lead levels vary from 0.2 to 4.6%, and six of the components analysed had measurable amounts of As (0.2-0.3%). There is clearly some evidence that the instrument was not made from uniform material whether this is significant in... 

To characterize a droplet size distribution, at least two parameters are typically necessary, i.e., a representative droplet diameter, (for example, mean droplet size) and a measure of droplet size range (for example, standard deviation or q). Many representative droplet diameters have been used in specifying distribution functions. The definitions of these diameters and the relevant relationships are summarized in Table 4.2. These relationships are derived on the basis of the Rosin-Rammler distribution function (Eq. 14), and the diameters are uniquely related to each other via the distribution parameter q in the Rosin-Rammler distribution function. Lefebvre 1 calculated the values of these diameters for q ranging from 1.2 to 4.0. The calculated results showed that Dpeak is always larger than SMD, and SMD is between 80% and 84% of Dpeak for many droplet generation processes for which 2left-hand side of Dpeak. The ratio MMD/SMD is... 

Quantification of the limits of detection (LOD), or minimum detectable levels (MDL statistically defined in Section 13.4), is an important part of any analysis. They are used to describe the smallest concentration of each element which can be determined, and will vary from element to element, from matrix to matrix, and from day to day. Any element in a sample which has a value below, or similar to, the limits of detection should be excluded from subsequent interpretation. A generally accepted definition of detection limit is the concentration equal to a signal of twice (95% confidence level) or three times (99% confidence) the standard deviation of the signal produced by the background noise at the position of the peak. In practice, detection limits in ICP-MS are usually based on ten runs of a matrix matched blank and a standard. In this case ... 

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