Statistical Notations

Statistics are pervasive in scientific journals as well as imbedded in business reports, academic textbooks, and even the popular media. An understanding of basic statistical terminology can be critical toward both disseminating and comprehending methodology and facilitating the appropriate interpretation of data. Ideally, there would exist a clear consensus for the utilization of a specific notation for statistical terms; however, even between various scientific communities (e.g., statistics, epidemiology, medical decision making, econometrics), there exist some variations in the notation for certain statistics. For instance, the acronym SEM may refer to highly diverse terms, such as the standard error of the mean, structural equation modeling, or scanning electron microscopy, within particular scientific disciplines. As such, a basic understanding of the context of any research is always ...