{"id":27,"date":"2013-12-09T19:42:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T19:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2014-01-17T17:48:41","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T17:48:41","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/?page_id=27","title":{"rendered":"HOME"},"content":{"rendered":"

This blog, like the book\u00a0Lab Math\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0from which it springs (incompletely formed), will be about numbers. I will endeavor to:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. showcase the basic and the practical, not the challenging or even the advanced;<\/p>\n

2. provide straightforward guidance for the unenthusiastic (\u201cjust do it this way\u201d);<\/p>\n

3. provide refreshers for those needing refreshment (whether they know it or not.)<\/p>\n

CONTENTS:<\/p>\n

>HOW TO CALCULATE<\/b>. There will be\u00a0simple rules for doing calculations<\/b>\u00a0that are frequently needed in the lab, including that most essential, most misunderstood, (and, sadly, most misused) set of numbers, statistics, (see example quiz above). \u00a0There will be a lot of overlap between these and Lab Math.<\/p>\n

>STATISTICS EXPLAINED<\/strong>. Basic statistical thinking and procedures explained.<\/p>\n

>ONLINE CALCULATORS REVIEWED<\/b>. You will also find\u00a0reviews of other cites that offer help with math<\/b>, in one way or another.\u00a0 Want to use an online melting temperature calculator but don\u2019t know which one you can trust?\u00a0 Check here, there may be some useful advice.<\/p>\n

>FIGURES REVISITED<\/b>. When the opportunity arises, I will\u00a0analyse published figures<\/b>\u00a0that I believe could be more enlightening if presented a different way.\u00a0 I reserve the right to go outside the scientific literature for my sources.<\/p>\n

>INTERVIEWS WITH MATHEMATICAL MINDS<\/b>. I will report on\u00a0conversations with other scientists<\/b>\u00a0who not only like numbers, but who are very very good at explaining them.\u00a0 I plan to chat up scientists with good attitudes, good advice, and good stories.<\/p>\n

>NUMERICAL OP-ED<\/strong>. \u00a0Not everything is understood or agreed on. \u00a0From time to time we may post a request for carefully-thought-out thoughts on subjects that are still under discussion in the real world.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0RANDOM NUMBERS AND TIME SINKS<\/b>. I expect there will also be\u00a0some random variation in content<\/b>\u00a0as I run across amusing, useful, elegant, or otherwise intriguing number-related things.\u00a0 This may also include some beta testing of interactive features.<\/p>\n

————–<\/div>\n
\n

Quiz<\/b>: True, False, or Huh?:\u00a0 Standard error of the mean (s.e.m.) is a descriptive statistic that provides information about the range of values you measured.<\/p>\n

If you answered Huh?, this blog is here to guide you.<\/p>\n

If you answered True, you are wrong (which is\u00a0great<\/i>, because it means you will remember it now), and this blog is here to refresh you.<\/p>\n

If you answered False: go ahead and feel superior, and thank your stats teacher.\u00a0 I hope you will enjoy the content here anyway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Etc, for the interested:<\/p>\n

Why it is false<\/i>: Standard error of the mean (standard error, s.e.m.) is a step along the way to inferring something about the population from which you sampled; it does not describe your sample. \u00a0It may look good, but you just have to let it go.\u00a0 Because s.e.m. represents a range that\u00a0varies<\/i>\u00a0with sample size<\/i>, it is not, in fact, standard. Bad name alert.\u00a0 Use s.e.m. to calculate confidence intervals, do not report s.e.m.<\/p>\n

What would be true<\/i>: Standard deviation (s) is a descriptive statistic that provides information about the range of values you actually measured. Importantly, it provides the\u00a0same information everytime<\/i>\u00a0it\u2019s used: it always means about 67% of the actual measurements fell between plus and minus that amount, and about 95% of the measurements fell within twice that.\u00a0\u00a0 Standard deviation is the standard.<\/p>\n

Editorial<\/i>: It is amazing to me that journals will publish graphs that show the s.e.m.\u00a0 That just forces the reader to find each of the sample sizes, take their square roots, then multiply them by the sizes of the bars.\u00a0 Do you really want to annoy your readers?<\/p>\n

Reference<\/i>: http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/8899234.\u00a0 Maintaining standards: differences between the standard deviation and standard error, and when to use each.\u00a0 DL Streiner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

———<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why and how to contact us:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there something numerical you would like to see explained, or a rule you are looking to learn? \u00a0Email us with the words “please explain” in the subject line.<\/p>\n

Is there something wrong here? This link is for reporting demonstrably incorrect facts and figures; disagreement with editorial content will be ignored:\u00a0\u00a0Email us with the word “mistakes” in the subject line.<\/p>\n

Know a good trick or shortcut or explanation that could help others? \u00a0\u00a0Email us with the words “helpful hints” in the subject line.<\/p>\n

Want to nominate a figure for re-configuring?\u00a0\u00a0Email us with the words “figure” in the subject line.<\/p>\n

Send email to: \u00a0labmathblog@whatever {please put in the correct address}<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog, like the book\u00a0Lab Math\u00a0\u00a0from which it springs (incompletely formed), will be about numbers. I will endeavor to: 1. showcase the basic and the practical, not the challenging or even the advanced; 2. provide straightforward guidance for the unenthusiastic (\u201cjust do it this way\u201d); 3. provide refreshers for those needing refreshment (whether they know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54,"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/labmath.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}