probable error

American  

noun

Statistics.

1. a quantity formerly used as a measure of variability: equal to 0.6745 times the standard deviation. A normally distributed population has half of its elements within one probable error of the mean.

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probable error Scientific  

/ prŏb′ə-bəl /

1. The amount by which the arithmetic mean of a sample is expected to vary because of chance alone.

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Etymology

Origin of probable error

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

probable error

For thevalues of M, whence the deviations are measured, and forthose of the corresponding probable error, see the headingsto the columns in Table II.

From Finger Prints by Sir Francis Galton

If the measurement at p is 80, the probable error is 2.

From Logic Deductive and Inductive by Carveth Read

It was a moderately complicated equation, and the computation of the probable error was especially tricky.

From Talents, Incorporated by Murray Leinster

The seepage of the underground water is so slow that not until four years' rainfall is taken into account is the correlation coefficient more than four times the probable error.

From Climatic Changes Their Nature and Causes by Ellsworth Huntington

When the rainfall of three seasons is taken into account the coefficient rises to +0.570, or 8.7 times the probable error, while with four years of rainfall the coefficient begins to fall off.

From Climatic Changes Their Nature and Causes by Ellsworth Huntington