Douglas Curran?Everett
Small steps to help improve the caliber of the reporting of statistics
National Jewish Health|Colorado School of Public Health|University of Colorado Denver
editorialsmall steps help improve caliber reporting statisticsdouglas curraneverettdouglas curraneverettdivision biostatistics bioinformatics national jewish health denver colorado department biostatistics informatics colorado school public health university colorado denver denver coloradopublished online05 jul 2017httpsdoiorg101152advan000492017moresectionspdf 102 kbdownload pdf toolsexport citationadd favoritesget permissionstrack citations shareshare onfacebooktwitterlinkedinwechat 2004 dale benos published guidelines reporting statistics journals published american physiological society 6 hoped guidelines would help improve caliber statistical information reported journals 2007 admittedly short interval clear mere publication guidelines unlikely impact reporting practices 7the guidelines sparked unsolicited comment see refs 7 15 16 18 20 sequel guidelines 7 provided invited commentary see refs 2 17 19 21 dale believed guidelines reflected mainstream statistical best practices 6 81 still sure dale would tooback us editorsinchief authors complained vigorously aboutguideline 5 report variability using standard deviationthey two reasons failed appreciate distinction standard deviation standard error2i agree edict presenting data standard deviations rather standard errors mean presentations visual effect edict silly particularly since showing standard deviations rather standard errors mean cosmetic issue comment cited ref 7or preferred report standard deviation using format9010 mmhgwhen guidelines papers 1 3 10 11 13 advocated notation form90 mmhg sd 10as begin second term editorinchief advances physiology education full 10 years dale benos published sequel guidelines reporting statistics remain committed improving statistical practice reporting among researchers one many collective efforts gone decades reason educators know well difficult correct misconception one students may hold differenti equate trying change reporting practices statistics trying change direction ocean liner kayak good luck mentioned analogy colleague saidwhat need kayaks lot kayaksi understand difficult change entrenched practices 7 9 get change slow mean trywith editorial announcing asked associate editors editorial board advanceseffective june 2017to actively promote two 2004 guidelines reporting statisticsguideline 5 report variability using standard deviationguideline 7 report precise p valuebelow rationale soguideline 5 report variability using standard deviation3 suppose random variable represents physiological thing care let us simplify lives assume distributed normally mean standard deviation mean describes location center distribution standard deviation square root variance 2describes spread normal distribution fig 1fig 1two normal distributions distributions differ standard deviation distribution 68 possible values within 1 mean gray areadownload figuredownload powerpointthese two parameters determine normal distribution describe theoretical distribution possible outcomes random variable normal probability density function f yfy12 expy222for 12 bear mind standard deviation single positive numberguideline 7 report precise p value 2004 guidelines said precise p value two things communicates information amount ink permits reader assess statistical result 6 moreover precise p value estimate chances reproduce someone elses scientific result 5 22 table 1 reiterates guidelines appropriate rounding precise p valuestable 1 guidelines rounding p valuesp value rangerounding precision001 p 100round 2 decimal places round p 0024 p 0020001 p 0009round 3 decimal places round p 00048 p 0005p 0001report p 0001adapted permission ref 7as dale wrote 2004 2007 6 8 guidelines embody fundamental concepts statistics 10 consistent scientific style format 3 style manual used american physiological society guidelines also fully supported american statistical association 14 23 recently issued firstever position statement specific component statistical practice 23in 2007 tom lang 17 wrotemeeting high standards required research publication efforts merely recommended require investigators use scientific method recommend require investigators explain experimental procedures recommend even require investigators format references correctly recommend authors required report statistics completely accurately every aspect research allow ignorance tradition personal preference practices journals justify anything less legitimize forces science attempts overcomegiven relentless optimist hopefuleven expectantthat advances readers authors embrace two guidelines always moved comment happy listendisclosuresno conflicts interest financial otherwise declared authorsacknowledgmentsi thank ronald wasserstein executive director american statistical association rita scheman director publications executive editor american physiological society gordon drummond school medicine university edinburgh uk tom lang medical writing editing program university chicago calvin williams clemson university clemson south carolina past editorinchief rob carroll past deputy editor jon kibble deputy editor barb goodman associate editors david harris mohammed khalil jodie krontirislitowitz bryan mackenzie nancy pelaez kathy ryan arif siddiqui dee silverthorn helpful comments suggestionsreferences1 altman dg gardner mj presentation variability lancet 328 639 1986 doi101016s0140673686924700 crossref pubmed isi google scholar2 clayton mk achieve highquality reporting statistics scientific journals commentary guidelines reporting statistics journals published american physiological society adv physiol educ 31 302304 2007 doi101152advan000842007 link isi google scholar3 council science editors style manual committee scientific style format cse manual authors editors publishers 7th ed reston va council science editors 2006 p 167170google scholar4 curraneverett explorations statistics standard deviations standard errors adv physiol educ 32 203208 2008 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accurate statistical reporting commentary guidelines reporting statistics journals published american physiological society sequel adv physiol educ 31 299 2007 doi101152advan000322007 link isi google scholar18 ludbrook j comments journal guidelines reporting statistics clin exp pharmacol physiol 32 324326 2005 doi101111j14401681200504221x crossref pubmed isi google scholar19 mackenzie b sustained efforts promote statistics literacy physiology commentary guidelines reporting statistics journals published american physiological society sequel adv physiol educ 31 305 2007 doi101152advan000872007 link isi google scholar20 morton jp reviewing scientific manuscripts much statistical knowledge reviewer really know adv physiol educ 33 79 2009 doi101152advan902072008 link isi google scholar21 rangachari pk statistics confidence trick commentary guidelines reporting statistics journals published american physiological society sequel adv physiol educ 31 300301 2007 doi101152advan000692007 link isi google scholar22 wagner pd cores reproducibility physiology corp advancing corpus physiological knowledge j appl physiol 1985 122 8990 2017 doi101152japplphysiol010462016 link isi google scholar23 wasserstein rl lazar na asas statement pvalues context process purpose stat 70 129133 2016 doi1010800003130520161154108crossref isi google scholarfootnotes1the aforementioned papers first three papers explorations statistics series included reporting statistics collection available httpadvanphysiologyorgreportingstatistics2the distinction standard deviation standard error substantive standard deviation estimates variability among observations sample standard error mean estimates uncertainty actual value population mean distinction emphasized repeatedly 1 4 6 10 113if standard deviation meaningful estimate variability data skewed range interquartile range provide meaningful estimatesauthor notesaddress reprint requests correspondence curraneverett div biostatistics bioinformatics m222 national jewish health 1400 jackson st denver co 802062761 email email protectedorg download pdf back top next figuresreferencesrelatedinformation collectionsadvances physiology education collectionsreporting statisticsstatistics cited byafferent renal innervation antithy11 nephritis ratskristina rodionova roland veelken karl f hilgers evamaria paulus peter linz michael j fischer martina schenker peter reeh gisa tiegs christian ott roland schmieder mario schiffer kerstin amann tilmann ditting3 november 2020 american journal physiologyrenal physiology vol 319 5evolution statistics p values statistical significance kayaks walking treesdouglas curraneverett15 may 2020 advances physiology education vol 44 2statistical considerations reporting cardiovascular researchmerry l lindsey gillian gray susan k wood douglas curraneverett8 august 2018 american journal physiologyheart circulatory physiology vol 315 2 issue volume 41issue 3september 2017pages 321323 copyright permissionscopyright 2017 american physiological societyhttpsdoiorg101152advan000492017pubmed28679565history received 29 march 2017 accepted 30 march 2017 published online 5 july 2017 published print 1 september 2017 metrics