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How to detect and correct for systematic errors, especially in sciences where random errors are large (a situation Tukey termed uncomfortable science). The Graybill–Deal estimator is often used to estimate the common mean of two normal populations with unknown and possibly unequal variances.
Statistics, when used in a misleading fashion, can trick the casual observer into believing something other than what the data shows. That is, a misuse of statistics occurs when a statistical argument asserts a falsehood. In some cases, the misuse may be accidental. In others, it is purposeful and for the gain of the perpetrator.
When either randomness or uncertainty modeled by probability theory is attributed to such errors, they are "errors" in the sense in which that term is used in statistics; see errors and residuals in statistics. Every time a measurement is repeated, slightly different results are obtained.
The statistical errors, on the other hand, are independent, and their sum within the random sample is almost surely not zero. One can standardize statistical errors (especially of a normal distribution) in a z-score (or "standard score"), and standardize residuals in a t-statistic, or more generally studentized residuals.
Misuse of statistics can produce subtle but serious errors in description and interpretation—subtle in the sense that even experienced professionals make such errors, and serious in the sense that they can lead to devastating decision errors. For instance, social policy, medical practice, and the reliability of structures like bridges all ...
The probability of type I errors is called the "false reject rate" (FRR) or false non-match rate (FNMR), while the probability of type II errors is called the "false accept rate" (FAR) or false match rate (FMR). If the system is designed to rarely match suspects then the probability of type II errors can be called the "false alarm rate". On the ...
Bias can be differentiated from other statistical mistakes such as accuracy (instrument failure/inadequacy), lack of data, or mistakes in transcription (typos). Bias implies that the data selection may have been skewed by the collection criteria.
In statistics, sampling errors are incurred when the statistical characteristics of a population are estimated from a subset, or sample, of that population. Since the sample does not include all members of the population, statistics of the sample (often known as estimators ), such as means and quartiles, generally differ from the statistics of ...