[R] statistical error in ggerrorplot argument desc_statby

p@i@di@i m@iii@g oii trusti@d@t@@de p@i@di@i m@iii@g oii trusti@d@t@@de
Mon Oct 17 10:29:40 CEST 2022


Hello!
I think there is a major statistical error or at least an inaccuracy  
in ggerrorplot and I don't know where to report this problem.

When using ggerrorplot, you can choose the argument desc_statby=sd or  
desc_statby= se. Where sd is described as "standard deviation of the  
mean".
and se as "standard error of the mean".
This makes no sense at all, because the standard error of the mean is  
exactly the standard deviation of the mean.

Whereas sd is usually used to denote the standard deviation of the sample.

The standard error of the mean or the standard deviation of the mean  
(sem) equals the standard deviation of the sample divided by the root  
of the sample size: sem= sd/root(n).


In error charts, it is common to represent the mean in combination  
with the sample standard deviation (sd) or the standard error of the  
mean (sem).

I think it is important to clarify the difference between sem and sd  
in relation to desc_statby as they because they are often confused by  
students and researchers alike.

Kind regards

Claudia



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