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

If, therefore, all were rated and scaled by this value, the results would fall under a curve of probable error.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham

Connected with the coefficient of correlation, usually, is a figure for "probable error," which depends, primarily, on the square root of the number of observations.

From The Value of Money by Anderson, Benjamin M.

While acknowledging the one error, detected by the Reviewer, I avail myself of the opportunity to apprise those who have my book of a probable error, not discovered by him.

From Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather A Reply by Upham, Charles Wentworth

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 Huntington, Ellsworth

The smaller the probable error, the more reliable is the mean result.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 2: Ebert to Estremadura by Various