A note on error bars as a graphical representation of the variability of data in biomedical research: choosing between standard deviation and standard error of the mean

• 作者: Tang Li Zhang Bo Zhang Hui
• 来源期刊: 胰腺病学杂志（英文）
• 关键词: Confidence interval Error bars Pancreatic disease Standard deviation Standard error of the mean
• 年，卷（期）: 2019,（3）
• 所属期刊栏目: Review Article
• 页码范围: 69-71
• 页数: 3页
• 语种: 中文
• DOI: 10.1097/JP9.0000000000000024

摘要

Standard deviation (SD) and standard error of the mean (SEM) have been applied widely as error bars in scientific plots. Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted principle addressing which of these 2 measures should be used. Here we seek to fill this gap by outlining the reasoning for choosing SEM over SD and hope to shed light on this unsettled disagreement among the biomedical community. The utility of SEM and SD as error bars is further discussed by examining the figures and plots published in 2 research articles on pancreatic disease.