Right -- it's the same concept of deviation about the mean, but in this case it's deviation of means around a grand mean.
It's one conceptual level up, and I too find it hard sometimes to make clear. But if they understand standard deviations, then standard error maps onto that conceptual structure almost perfectly. I often motivate the concept with the process whereby one would do it (get a sample of size N from a pop, take a mean and write it down, throw them back, do it again, blah blah). Then you can talk about a distribution of those means, the standard deviation of which is called the standard error. I tell them that if you're talking about the behavior of scores, you use standard deviations. If you're talking about the behavior of means, you use standard errors of the mean. Works pretty well for me... m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: Bourgeois, Dr. Martin [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 10:34 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: RE:[tips] standard deviation versus standard error > > It's easy if they understand the concept of a sampling > distribution of means. The standard error is the standard > deviation of the sampling distribution of means for a given > sample size. > > ________________________________________ > From: Annette Taylor [[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 11:29 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] standard deviation versus standard error > > I am trying to explain to students with no or minimal stats > knowledge the difference between standard deviation and > standard error. They get SD pretty well because I can talk > about average deviation about a mean for a set of scores. > SE, the more commonly accepted error term these days, is a > bit more complicated. Anyone have an "easy" way to describe > it to students? > > Annette > > Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. > Professor, Psychological Sciences > University of San Diego > 5998 Alcala Park > San Diego, CA 92110 > [email protected] > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13390.2bbc1cc8fd0e5f9e0b91f0 > 1828c87814&n=T&l=tips&o=2485 > or send a blank email to > [email protected] > tburg.edu > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72 > a2d17c90e1&n=T&l=tips&o=2486 > or send a blank email to > [email protected] > tburg.edu > The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=2488 or send a blank email to leave-2488-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
