SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION

biostatistics

Introduction to Biostatistics: Part 2,

Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics include measures of central tendency and vari- Gary M Gaddis, MD, PhD
ability. Measures of central tendency include mean, median, and mode. Monica L Gaddis, PhD
The mean is the arithmetic average of data from interval or ratio scales. Kansas City, Missouri
The median reflects the 50th percentile score. The mode is the most fre-
quently occurring value of a data distribution. Measures of variability in- From the Departments of Emergency
clude range, interquartile range, standard deviation, and standard error of Health Services and Surgery, Truman
the mean. The range describes the spread between the extreme values of Medical Center, University of Missouri,
Kansas City.
data. Interquartile range is data included between the 25th and 75th per-
centile of a distribution. Standard deviation describes variability of data
about the sample mean, while standard error of the mean helps describe Received for publication September 1,
1989. Accepted for publication
the distribution of several sample means about a true population mean. December 4, 1989.
Finally, confidence intervals, which are derived from the standard error of
the mean, define an.interval likely to include a true population value,
Address for reprints: Monica L Gaddis,
based on sample statistical values and probability characteristics of data PhD, Department of Surgery, Truman
distributions. [Gaddis GM, Gaddis ML: Introduction to biostatistics: Part Medical Center, 2301 Holmes, Kansas
2, descriptive statistics. Ann Emerg Med March 1990;19:309-315.] City, Missouri 64108.

INTRODUCTION
Statistical analysis is the process by which numerical data obtained by
scientific inquiry are transformed into a useable form for scientific inter-
pretation. This involves manipulation of data for describing characteristics
studied (descriptive statistics) and transformation of the data to help infer
conclusions from the data (inferential statistics).
This second of a six-part series on biostatistics focuses on descriptive
statistics. A thorough understanding of this topic is needed before advanc-
ing to discussions about inferential statistics. Familiarity with the con-
cepts regarding types of data and data distributions, as presented in part 1,1
is required for understanding the concepts presented herein. Numerical ex-
amples are provided to facilitate understanding. Finally, there exist many
common, yet inappropriate uses of statistics, which will be discussed in
this article.

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

Mean
The mean is the arithmetic average of data and is expressed by the
equation:
X = ~ Xi/n
where X equals the mean, Xi equals each individual data point, and n is the
number of data points in the sample. The mean can be calculated for inter-
val and ratio scale data. However, mean values for ordinal scale data are
generally misleading or invalid due to the lack of a consistent level of
magnitude between numeric units of the scale. 1 Therefore, the mean is
useful for data such as heart rate and blood pressure, but is misleading for
arbitrarily constructed data scales such as the Apgar Scale, Glasgow Coma
Score, and Trauma Score. 2,3
The mean is affected by outliers, which are extreme values of a data
distribution. 2 This is not true of other measures of central tendency.

19:3 March 1990 Annals of Emergency Medicine 309/141

BIOSTATISTICS
Gaddis & Gaddis

FIGURE L Systolic blood pressure of

30 m e n aged 31 to 40 years. The
mean, median, and mode all equal
120.

FIGURE 2. Systolic blood pressure in

persons with renovascular hyperten-
sion. Mean, 228.7; m e d i a n , 230;
mode, 240.

FIGURE 3. Systolic blood pressure in

young men and pregnant women. M I I I I I I I I I I I

denotes male subjects, Fdenotes fe- 100 110 120 130 140

male subjects. Mean, 106.1; median,

105; mode, 95, 120. M e a n = 120
Median = 120
M o d e = 120

Median
T h e m e d i a n is t h e " m i d - m o s t "
value of a data distribution. It is the
v a l u e above w h i c h or b e l o w w h i c h
half of the data points lie.2,4, 5 Alter-
natively, the m e d i a n is the 50th per-
centile value of a distribution.
T h e m e d i a n is unaffected by out-
liers and m a y be m o r e useful t h a n
the m e a n to describe data w h e n out-
liers exist 2 or w h e n c o n t i n u o u s data
are n o t n o r m a l l y d i s t r i b u t e d . 4 T h e
m e d i a n is useful for describing ordi-
nal d a t a 4 b e c a u s e the m a g n i t u d e of x x X X X X X X
I I I I I I I I
difference b e t w e e n p o i n t s of a data 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250
scale need n o t be consistent to deter-
m i n e the 50th percentile value. 2 The
m e d i a n is n o t u s e f u l to d e s c r i b e Mean = 228.7
Median = 230
n o m i n a l data 2 b e c a u s e of the arbi-
2 M o d e = 240
trary s e l e c t i o n of n u m b e r s used to
generate this scale.

Mode
T h e m o d e is the m o s t c o m m o n l y
o b t a i n e d v a l u e or v a l u e s on a data
scale, or the highest p o i n t of a peak
on a f r e q u e n c y d i s t r i b u t i o n . 2 T h e
m o d e is m o s t useful w h e n two clus- F F
ters of data exist (bimodal distribu-
F F F M M F M M \
tion), such that a group m e a n is mis-
I ! I I I I I !
leading or meaningless. 2 T h e m o d e is
70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140
useful to describe n o m i n a l data, de-
fining the m o s t prevalent characteris-
tic of a sample. M e a n = 106,1
Median = 105
M o d e = 95,120
Numerical Examples 3
T h r e e d i f f e r e n t d i s t r i b u t i o n s of
data will be e x a m i n e d to d e t e r m i n e
h o w the type of data d i s t r i b u t i o n ob- Figure 2 p r e s e n t s t h e o r e t i c a l sys- will alter the value of the mean, b u t
tained affects the previously defined tolic blood pressure data of patients n o t the m e d i a n or mode.
measures of central tendency. w i t h u n t r e a t e d r e n o v a s c u l a r hyper- Figure 3 p r e s e n t s s y s t o l i c b l o o d
Figure 1 r e p r e s e n t s n o r m a l l y dis- t e n s i o n . T h e d i s t r i b u t i o n is n e g a - p r e s s u r e for a s a m p l e t h a t i n c l u d e s
tributed data for systolic blood pres- tively skewed. In the absence of nor- t w o groups, pregnant w o m e n in their
sure of 30 m e n aged 31 to 40 years. mality, the mean, median, and m o d e second t r i m e s t e r and men. Again, the
For n o r m a l l y d i s t r i b u t e d data, t h e are not equal. Also, an outlier, such m e a n and m e d i a n are u n e q u a l in this
v a l u e s of t h e m e a n , m e d i a n , a n d as a systolic blood pressure value of n o n - n o r m a l l y distributed data. Also,
m o d e are identical. 150 m m Hg instead of 180 m m Hg, there exist t w o peaks of data cluster,
142/310 Annals of Emergency Medicine 19:3 March 1990
 50 th percentile

15.9 th percentile
S 84.1 percentile

2.3 rd percentile ! , / 7.7 TM percentile

2"14°/°
, "13°/° , ~ I 13"59°/° 34.13% 34.13% 13"59% i

-4SO -3SD -2SD -1 SD o

+1 SD +2SD +3 SD +4SD
I 68.26% I
I 95.44o/0 J
99.720/0
I
99"980/0 ,,, I
4

FIGURE 4. SD and the normal distri-

TABLE 1. Applicability of measures of central tendency
Characteristic
Useful with interval, ratio data
Useful with ordinal data
Useful with nominal data
Affected by outliers
two modes. To ignore the b i m o d a l as-
pect of this d i s t r i b u t i o n w o u l d be to
overlook its u n i q u e feature. Also, the
presence of an outlier w o u l d alter the
mean, b u t n o t the m e d i a n or modes.
In Figures 2 and 3 the mean, me-
dian, a n d mode(s) are u n e q u a l be-
cause data are n o t n o r m a l l y distrib-
uted. 5 Thus, the m e a s u r e of central
t e n d e n c y m o s t useful to data analy-
sis depends on the type of data, and
w h a t aspect of the data is to be con-
veyed. Fortunately, m o s t physiologic
d a t a are n o r m a l l y or n e a r n o r m a l l y
d i s t r i b u t e d so t h a t m e a n , m e d i a n ,
and m o d e are equal. However, ordi-
nal scale data have no consistent
m a g n i t u d e of d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n
u n i t s of the data scale, and m o s t or-
d i n a l d a t a are n o t n o r m a l l y distrib-
uted. 3 Therefore, t h e m e a n is mis-
leading as a m e a s u r e of central ten-
dency for ordinal scale data.Z, 3
N o single m e a s u r e of central ten-
Mean Median Mode
Yes Yes Yes
No Yes Yes
No No Yes
Yes No No
dency is best for all situations. 5 The
a p p l i c a b i l i t y of m e a s u r e s of central
t e n d e n c y is s u m m a r i z e d (Table 1).
MEASURESOF VARIABILITY
M e a s u r e s of c e n t r a l t e n d e n c y do
not describe the variability, or
spread, of data. S t a n d a r d i z e d esti-
m a t e s d e f i n i n g d a t a v a r i a b i l i t y are
n e e d e d to h e l p i n f e r w h e t h e r t w o
groups studied differ significantly. In
other words, measures of variability
are used to help infer w h e t h e r two or
m o r e groups studied are drawn from
d i f f e r e n t p o p u l a t i o n s . S e v e r a l esti-
m a t e s of variability exist.
Range
The range is the interval b e t w e e n
the lowest and highest values w i t h i n
a data group. 2 It is the s i m p l e s t mea-
sure of v a r i a b i l i t y to u n d e r s t a n d and
identify. While simple, the range
only considers the e x t r e m e values of
bution: 6 8 . 2 6 % of all scores fall
w i t h i n ± 1 SD f r o m t h e m e a n ;
95.44% of all scores fall within ± 2
SD f r o m the m e a n ; 99.72% of all
scores fall within +_ 3 SD from the
m e a n ; 9 9 . 9 8 % of all s c o r e s fall
wqthin ± 4 SD from the mean. £6
a series of m e a s u r e s , and t h u s t h e
presence of one outlier can m a r k e d l y
i n f l u e n c e t h e r a n g e . T h e r a n g e is
purely a descriptive tool and should
n o t be used to infer w h e t h e r groups
differ statistically.
InterquartileRange
T h e i n t e r q u a r t i l e range is a m e a -
sure of v a r i a b i l i t y directly related to
the median. Recall that the median, a
m e a s u r e of central t e n d e n c y applica-
ble to ordinal and n o n - n o r m a l l y dis-
t r i b u t e d d a t a , is t h e m i d d l e m o s t
v a l u e of a set of data. T h e m e d i a n
r e p r e s e n t s the 50th p e r c e n t i l e . T h e
i n t e r q u a r t i l e range is t h a t range de-
scribed by the interval b e t w e e n the
25th and 75th percentile values. 6
It has been suggested that the in-
terquartile range be used for describ-
ing the v a r i a b i l i t y of data that do n o t
m e e t p a r a m e t r i c analysis standards,
such as ordinal scale data. 6 T h e inter-
q u a r t i l e range clearly defines w h e r e
the m i d d l e 50% of measures occurs
and indicates the spread of the data

19:3 March 1990 Annals of Emergency Medicine 311/143

BIOSTATISTICS
Gaddis & Gaddis

TABLE 2. Estimates of variability of systolic blood pressure data of men aged 31 to 40 years

Systolic
Subject Blood Pressure (X - Xi) (X - X=)2
1 135 15 225
2 115 5 25
3 110 10 100
4 130 10 100
5 125 5 25
6 125 5 25
7 105 15 225
8 120 0 0
9 120 0 0
10 120 0 0
11 125 5 25
12 110 "10 100
13 115 5 25
14 115 5 25
15 135 15 225
16 100 20 400
17 120 0 0
18 125 5 25
19 120 0 0
20 130 10 100
21 140 20 400
22 120 0 0
23 115 5 25
24 1t0 10 100
25 130 10 100
26 105 15 225
27 120 0 0
28 115 5 25
29 125 5 25
30 120 0 0
Mean = ~ X/n = 3,600~0 = 120
Median = 120
Mode = 120
Variance: .Y.;(X - Xi)2/(n-1) = 2,550/29 = 87.931
SD = ~ = 9.377
SEM = 9.337 = 1.712

without using statistical techniques
improperly.
Standard Deviation
T h e standard deviation (SD) is one
of the m o s t c o m m o n l y encountered
e s t i m a t e s of d a t a v a r i a b i l i t y and is
integral to performance of inferential
statistical techniques. 2 It provides an
e s t i m a t e of t h e degree of s c a t t e r of
individual s a m p l e data points about
the s a m p l e mean.
The usefulness of the SD lies in its
properties as related to the Gaussian,
or normal, distribution. The SD itself
can be u s e d to d e f i n e an e x t r e m e
score, s u c h as the v a l u e t h a t is ex-
ceeded by 5% or 95% of all scores
from a s a m p l e of a population. 2 Fig-
u r e 4 s h o w s t h a t 6 8 . 2 6 % of d a t a
points of a n o r m a l l y distributed pop-
ulation fall w i t h i n plus or m i n u s one
SD of t h e m e a n , a n d 9 5 . 4 4 % of
points fall w i t h i n plus or m i n u s two
SD of the mean. 5
The SD is calculated as the square
root of a n o t h e r t e r m called the vari-
ance. Because individual data p o i n t s
w i l l fall b o t h above and b e l o w t h e
mean, the effect of direction of differ-

144/312 Annals of Emergency Medicine 19:3 March 1990

 ~XX.K, x

x21¢xN

<~3¢.K;

I I l l I I I I I I I I
100 110 120 130 140
SD = 9.37 SD = 9.37
SEM = 1,71 SEM = 1,71
I 1

I 9 5 % CI l

MEAN

FIGURE 5. Systolic blood pressure of

TABLE 3. Applicability of measures of variability m e n aged 31 to 40 years. SD, SE, and
95% CI are noted.

Characteristic
Useful to describe interval or
ratio data
Used to describe ordinal data
Descriptive of sample variability
Assists in statistical inference
Used to calculate confidence
intervals
*SEM = SD/x/~, thus SD is involved indirectly in calculating a confidence interval.
ence will cause some deviations from
the m e a n to be positive and some to
be negative. To overcome this effect,
d e v i a t i o n s are s q u a r e d to o b t a i n a
p o s i t i v e n u m b e r . I n d i v i d u a l squared
d e v i a t i o n s from the m e a n are t h e n
averaged to calculate the e s t i m a t e of
v a r i a b i l i t y k n o w n as t h e v a r i a n c e .
Numerically
Variance = ~ (X - Xi)2/(n-1 )
w h e r e X equals the mean, X i equals
each individual data point, and n
e q u a l s t h e t o t a l n u m b e r of d a t a
points. 5-7 T h e variance represents the
d e v i a t i o n f r o m t h e m e a n , expressed
as the square of the u n i t s used. For
19:3 March 1990
Interquartile
statistical inference techniques. T h e
Range Range SD SEM
calculation of SD from the n o r m a l l y
Yes Yes Yes Yes distributed systolic blood pressure
data of Figure 1 is shown (Table 2).
Yes Yes No No
Standard Error of the Mean
Yes Yes Yes No
T h e s t a n d a r d error of t h e m e a n
No No Yes Yes (SEM) is a statistic derived from the
No No No* Yes SD, and is s i m p l y calculated as
SEM - SD/N/~-
It is o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c a l c u l a t i o n
that the SEM is always smaller t h a n
instance, in Figure 1, the variance of t h e SD and t h e g r e a t e r t h e n, t h e
s y s t o l i c b l o o d p r e s s u r e is expressed s m a l l e r the SEM will be.
as m m Hg 2. However, these squared T h e SEM is an a b s t r a c t concept.
units are n o t meaningful. Therefore, Imagine repeating an e x p e r i m e n t nu-
t h e s q u a r e r o o t of t h e v a r i a n c e is merous times. With each experi-
t h e n c a l c u l a t e d , to b r i n g t h e vari- ment, a different sample group w o u l d
a b i l i t y e s t i m a t e b a c k to t h e correct be drawn from the study population.
scale. This is the value k n o w n as the Because each repetition of the experi-
SD: m e n t contains u n i q u e sample m e m -
bers, different m e a n v a l u e s w i l l be
SD -
generated w i t h each study. The col-
T h e SD is meaningful only w h e n ap- lection of these m e a n values, as gen-
p l i e d to d a t a t h a t are n o r m a l l y or erated from repetitive sampling and
n e a r l y n o r m a l l y distributed.2,s, 9 It is e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n , w i l l reflect "scat-
a p p l i c a b l e to i n t e r v a l or r a t i o scale ter" about the true but unknown
data. ~ p o p u l a t i o n mean. The SEM is s i m p l y
The SD is useful in application to a quantification of the variability of
Annals of Emergency Medicine 313/145
BIOSTATISTICS
Gaddis & Gaddis
these sample m e a n values. The SEM
is properly used to e s t i m a t e the pre-
cision or r e l i a b i l i t y of a sample, as it
relates to the p o p u l a t i o n from w h i c h
the sample was drawn.lO, 11 The SEM
does not provide an e s t i m a t e of the
scatter of s a m p l e data about the sam-
ple m e a n la and should n o t be used as
such.
T h e SEM is u s e f u l b e c a u s e i t is
u s e d in t h e c a l c u l a t i o n of " c o n f i -
dence i n t e r v a l s , " w h i c h c o n t a i n an
e s t i m a t e of the true m e a n for an en-
tire p o p u l a t i o n from w h i c h the sam-
ple was drawn. Confidence intervals
can be used for descriptive or inferen-
tial purposes.
A calculation of SEM for the nor-
m a l l y d i s t r i b u t e d data p r e s e n t e d in
Figure 1 is s h o w n (Table 2).
Standard Deviation Versus
Standard Error of the Mean
Both SD and SEM are measures of
variability. However, the two statis-
tics are different and are f r e q u e n t l y
confused or m i s u s e d , la T h e SD de-
f i n e s v a r i a b i l i t y of s a m p l e d a t a
points about a sample mean. The SD
is always greater than the SEM. The
SEM is m o s t c o m m o n l y calculated to
help derive confidence intervals.
Various a u t h o r s have c o m m e n t e d
about the i n t e l l e c t u a l sleight of h a n d
of incorrectly using SEM when only
SD is appropriate to describe sample
data variability.6A2A3 Bunce et aU 3
reviewed 608 articles in six journals
in w h i c h m e a n _+ SD or SEM were
reported. In 50%, SEM values were
r e p o r t e d w h e n o n l y t h e SD w o u l d
have been appropriate. T h e a u t h o r s
concluded that " m a n y workers m a y
choose to report the SEM because it
is s i m p l y s m a l l e r t h a n t h e SD. ''13
The inappropriate use of SEM to de-
scribe sample data v a r i a b i l i t y m a y be
p r e s e n t e d by a u t h o r s in an a t t e m p t
to i m p l y that a significant difference
exists b e t w e e n groups, w h e n in fact
no difference exists. Elenbaas et al la
were m o r e blunt, concluding that au-
thors w h o p r e s e n t data as m e a n _+
SEM instead of m e a n ± SD m a y be
trying to actively i m p a i r the reader's
a b i l i t y to accurately identify the vari-
ability in the s t u d y data.
W h e t h e r by error or by design, it is
incorrect to underrepresent the vari-
a b i l i t y of s a m p l e d a t a as m e a n _+
SEM. We suggest that readers m u l t i -
p l y the SEM by ~ n - t o obtain the SD
w h e n SEM is erroneously used to ex-
press sample variability. It is not an
146/314
TABLE 4. Effect of confidence level and sample size on confidence
interval width
Calculation of CIs for Data Presented in Table 2
C1(%) SD n SEM
90 9.377 30
95 9.377 30
99 9.377 30
Effect of Sample Size on CI for Data With A Mean of 120 and a SD of 9.377
C1(%) SD n SEM
95 9.377 30
95 9.377 100
95 9.377 1000
error to u s e SEM in s p e c u l a t i n g a
range, or confidence interval, w i t h i n
w h i c h a t r u e population m e a n is
l i k e l y to fall. The SD and SEM of the
data shown in Figure 1 are given (Fig-
u r e 5). T a b l e 3 s u m m a r i z e s t h e
proper use of e s t i m a t e s of variability.
Confidence Intervals
W h e n s t a t i s t i c s derived from the
sampling of a p o p u l a t i o n are studied
to infer values for p o p u l a t i o n param-
eters, it w o u l d be useful to have con-
fidence that the sample statistical
value, such as a m e a n or SD, w o u l d
be representative of the true popula-
tion p a r a m e t e r . One c a n n o t be cer-
tain that a s a m p l e statistical value is
representative of the true population
parameter, b u t one can c a l c u l a t e a
range of values l i k e l y to be represen-
t a t i v e of t h e p o p u l a t i o n p a r a m e -
ter.4,14 That range of values is called
a c o n f i d e n c e i n t e r v a l (CI). Calcula-
tion of a CI is a m e t h o d of e s t i m a t i n g
the range of values l i k e l y to include
the true value of a p o p u l a t i o n param-
eter. Since one cannot study all
m e m b e r s of a population, a represen-
t a t i v e s a m p l e of t h e p o p u l a t i o n is
studied, and from this one uses the
m e a n and SEM to w o r k backward to
e s t i m a t e a CI.
T h e w i d t h of the CI depends on
the SEM and the degree of confidence
we arbitrarily choose. For instance, a
95% CI, w h i c h is the degree of confi-
dence m o s t c o m m o n l y expressed, ~4
is a range of v a l u e s b r o a d e n o u g h
that, if the entire p o p u l a t i o n could be
studied, 95% of the t i m e the popula-
tion m e a n w o u l d fall w i t h the CI es-
t i m a t e d from the sample of the popu-
Annals of Emergency Medicine
CI
1.712 120 -+ 2.82
1.712 120 -+ 3.36
1.712 120 _+ 3.83
CI
1.712 120 _+ 3.36
0.938 120 _+ 1.84
0.297 120 ± 0.582
lationA s Also, the closer a p o i n t lies
to t h e m i d d l e of t h e CI, t h e m o r e
l i k e l y it is-representative of the pop-
ulation. 16
Though by convention the 95% CI
is m o s t c o m m o n l y reported, the 95%
level is n o t rigidly required. W i d e r
CIs, such as a 99% or 99.9% CI, are
even m o r e l i k e l y to include the true
p o p u l a t i o n p a r a m e t e r v a l u e and are
c o m m o n l y used for critical appraisal
of data. T h e y are also advocated for
e x a m i n a t i o n s of data during ongoing
a c c u m u l a t i o n of subjects in a clinical
trial. 15 N a r r o w e r CIs, s u c h as t h e
90% CI, can be used w h e n s t u d y au-
thors find it acceptable that ten
t i m e s out of 100, the true p o p u l a t i o n
p a r a m e t e r m a y n o t lie w i t h i n the CI.
However, the w i d t h of a CI depends
n o t only on the variability of the data
and the level of confidence selected,
but also the sample size.
W h e n one broadens a CI by mov-
ing a 95% to a 99% CI, accuracy is
i n c r e a s e d b e c a u s e t h e c a l c u l a t e d CI
b e c o m e s m o r e l i k e l y to i n c l u d e a
true p o p u l a t i o n parameter. However,
w h e n the level of CI is held constant
and s a m p l e size is increased, SEM is
d e c r e a s e d a n d t h u s t h e CI is nar-
rowed. This narrowing of the CI in-
creases the precision of the CI. The
effect of level of confidence selected
and s a m p l e size on the w i d t h of a CI
is shown (Table 4).
C a l c u l a t i o n of the CI for e s t i m a -
tion of true p o p u l a t i o n m e a n values
applies to c o n t i n u o u s data from nor-
m a l or n e a r - n o r m a l d i s t r i b u t i o n s . 4
Also, a CI can be e s t i m a t e d for such
o t h e r s t a t i s t i c s as m e d i a n s , regres-
s i o n slopes, r e l a t i v e r i s k data, re-
19:3 March 1990
sponse rates, intergroup differences
of r e s p o n s e rates, X year s u r v i v a l
rates, median survival duration, and
h a z a r d ratios.14, t6 In addition, CI
m a y be used to visually compare data
w h e n two or more sample groups are
studied but their members were not
r a n d o m l y selected or assigned be-
tween the groups, is
Pitfalls in the use of the CI exist.
Confidence intervals convey the ef-
fects of sampling variation but do not
control for such nonsampling errors
in study design or execution as im-
proper selection of subjects, poor ex-
perimental design, and the like. 4
SUMMARY
This article has highlighted com-
m o n proper and improper use of mea-
sures of central tendency and mea-
sures of variability. The relationship
between the type of data scale and
the correct use of mean, median, and
mode have been presented. The vari-
ability estimates of range, interquar-
tile range, SD, and SEM have been in-
troduced, and their proper and ira-
19:3 March 1990
proper use has been discussed.
Finally, the concept and proper use of
CIs have been outlined.
The next installment of this series,
in the May issue, will cover hypoth-
esis testing. Included will be types of
experimental error, the terms alpha
(oL) and beta (f3), statistical power, and
sensitivity, specificity, and predictive
value.
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