This page gathers the 397 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Statistics”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 3 of 4: from “mesokurtosis” to “regression to the mean”.
- mesokurtosis noun The property of having kurtosis equal to that of a normal distribution; equivalently, having zero excess kurtosis.
- meta-analysis noun Any systematic procedure for statistically combining the results of many different studies.
- microdata noun Data concerning individuals in a trial, survey etc.
- midhinge noun A measure of location of a batch or sample equal to the average of the first and third quartiles. Equivalently, it is the 25% trimmed…
- millile noun Any of the values in a series that divides the distribution of individuals in that series into a thousand groups of equal frequency.
- minimum noun The smallest member of a batch or sample or the lower bound of a probability distribution.
- missing noun A value that is missing.
- missingness noun The manner in which data are missing from a sample of a population.
- mixing adj Of a stochastic process, to be asymptotically independent (in a precise mathematical sense).
- mod noun Abbreviation of mode.
- modal adj Relating to the statistical mode.
- mode noun The most frequently occurring value in a distribution.
- Monte Carlo method noun Any of a class of techniques for estimating the solution of a numerical mathematical problem by means of a random artificial sampling…
- moving average noun A weighted average that is determined for a given data point based on its value and the past values.
- multicollinearity noun A phenomenon in which two or more predictor variables in a multiple regression model are highly correlated, so that the coefficient…
- multideviation noun A distance of more than two standard deviations from the mean.
- negative binomial distribution noun A discrete probability distribution of the number of successes in a sequence of independent and identically distributed Bernoulli trials…
- noise noun Variation or deviation generated by random fluctuations.
- nominal adj Having values whose order is insignificant.
- noninterview noun A person who is not interviewed.
- nonnormally adv Not showing a normal distribution
- nonparametric adj Free of assumptions about the frequency distributions of the variables being assessed.
- nonstationary noun A data point whose statistical properties (mean, variance, covariance) are not constant over time.
- normal adj Which has a very specific bell curve shape; that is or has the qualities of a normal distribution.
- normal distribution noun Any of a family of continuous probability distributions such that the probability density function is the Gaussian function
- normality noun A measure of how well an observed distribution approximates a normal distribution.
- normalization noun The process of removing statistical error in repeated measured data.
- normalize verb To reduce the variations by excluding irrelevant aspects.
- normally adv In the manner of a variable with a Gaussian distribution.
- normed adj Of a data set that has been adjusted to a norm.
- nowcast verb To estimate what is currently happening based on knowledge of how data is biased.
- nowcasting noun The use of mathematical models of a current situation that include adjustments to imperfect data.
- nuisance parameter noun A parameter of the distribution of a population that is not directly relevant to solving the significance test or estimate problem under…
- null noun The null hypothesis.
- null hypothesis noun A hypothesis set up to be nullified or refuted in order to support an alternative hypothesis. When used, the null hypothesis is presumed…
- octile noun Any of the quantiles that divide an ordered sample population into eight equally numerous subsets.
- ogive noun The curve of a cumulative distribution function.
- ordinal variable noun A variable with values whose order is significant, but on which no meaningful arithmetic-like operations can be performed.
- ordinate verb To subject to the mathematical operation of ordination.
- ordination noun A statistical technique for ordering data from a large number of sites or populations by arranging the data as points in a multidimensional…
- orthogonal adj Statistically independent, with reference to variates.
- outfit noun An outlier-sensitive fit.
- outlier noun A value in a statistical sample which does not fit a pattern that describes most other data points; specifically, a value that lies 1.5 IQR…
- overdisperse verb To produce overdispersion.
- overdispersion noun The presence of greater dispersion in a data set than would be expected according to the statistical model in use.
- overfit verb To use a statistical model that has too many parameters relative to the size of the sample, leading to a good fit with the sample data but…
- overfitting noun The production of a statistical model that, due to an excess of parameters relative to the sample size, fits the sample data extremely well…
- overparameterize verb To use an excessive number of parameters.
- oversample noun An additional sample of a subpopulation, above and beyond the portion of a main sample that already belongs to that subpopulation.
- p noun Abbreviation of probability.
- p-hacking noun The practice of reanalysis of data until a desired result is obtained which is statistically significant.
- p-value noun In statistical significance testing, the probability of obtaining a test statistic at least as extreme as the one that was actually…
- parameter noun Any measured quantity of a statistical population that summarises or describes an aspect of the population.
- Pareto distribution noun A probability distribution such that for a random variable X with that distribution holds that the probability that X is greater than some…
- partial verb To take the partial regression coefficient.
- partial autocorrelation noun Remaining correlation of two random variables in a stochastic process after intervening random variables have been accounted for.
- peakedness noun kurtosis (archaic).
- pentile noun Any of the four points that divide an ordered distribution into five parts, each containing a fifth (20%) of the population. Used commonly…
- percentile noun Any of the ninety-nine points that divide an ordered distribution into one hundred parts, each containing one per cent of the population.
- phone survey noun An opinion poll or survey conducted through the use of calling people on their telephones to gather information relating to the public.
- pivot noun A pivotal quantity.
- platykurtic adj Of a distribution: having kurtosis less than that of a normal distribution; equivalently, having negative excess kurtosis.
- platykurtosis noun The property of having kurtosis less than that of a normal distribution; equivalently, having negative excess kurtosis.
- point mass noun A probability distribution with unity probability mass at one specific outcome, and zero probability mass everywhere else.
- Poisson distribution noun Any of a class of discrete probability distributions that express the probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed time…
- polychoric adj Of or pertaining to the relationship between two latent variables, each assumed to have a normal distribution and associated with an…
- population noun A group of units (persons, objects, or other items) enumerated in a census or from which a sample is drawn.
- population mean noun The mean (usually arithmetic, but possibly geometric) of all members of a population or all possible values from which a sample can be…
- posterior probability noun The probability of an event given the knowledge of occurrence of other events that bear on it: P( A | B ) as contrasted to P( A ), where A…
- power noun The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.
- PPV noun Initialism of positive predictive value.
- prediction noun A probability estimation based on statistical methods.
- predictive noun Simulated data generated from a statistical model, based on the estimates for the real data.
- principle of indifference noun A rule for assigning epistemic probabilities, according to which, in the absence of any relevant evidence, agents should distribute their…
- prior probability noun The probability of an event obtained without the knowledge of occurrence of other events that bear on it.
- probability distribution noun A distribution of all possible values of a random variable together with an indication of their probabilities.
- probable error noun The half-range of an interval about a central point for the distribution, such that half of the values from the distribution will lie…
- probit noun A unit, derived from a standard normal distribution, used in measuring the responses to doses.
- projection matrix noun A matrix that maps a vector of response (dependent variable) values to a vector of fitted or predicted values.
- pseudocount noun A number added to a number of observations so as to change a generated probability to one obtained by prior knowledge.
- pseudomedian noun A measure of centrality for data sets and populations, which agrees with the median where the data are symmetric.
- pseudoreplicate noun Any of a group of interdependent data that are mistakenly treated as independent.
- pseudoreplication noun The exaggeration of the statistical significance of a set of measurements resulting from treating the data as independent observations when…
- Q1 noun The first quartile.
- Q3 noun The third quartile.
- quadratic form noun A scalar quantity of the form εᵀΛε, where ε is a vector of n random variables, and Λ is an n-dimensional symmetric matrix.
- quantile noun One of the class of values of a variate which divides the members of a batch or sample into equal-sized subgroups of adjacent values or a…
- quartile noun Any of the three points that divide an ordered distribution into four parts, each containing a quarter of the population.
- quartimax adj Describing an orthogonal rotation that maximizes the squared loadings for each variable rather than each factor.
- quintile noun Any of the quantiles which divide an ordered sample population into five equally numerous subsets.
- Rademacher distribution noun A discrete probability distribution where a random variate has a 50% chance of being +1 and a 50% chance of being -1.
- random adj Involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability distribution; in the ideal case…
- random variable noun A quantity whose value is random and to which a probability distribution is assigned, such as the possible outcome of a roll of a dice.
- range noun The length of the smallest interval which contains all the data in a sample; the difference between the largest and smallest observations…
- ratio scale noun A scale of measurement of data having a fixed zero value, which permits the quantitative comparison of differences of values.
- ratio variable noun A variable with the features of interval variable and, additionally, whose any two values have meaningful ratio, making the operations of…
- raw adj Uncorrected, without analysis.
- regress verb To perform a regression on an explanatory variable.
- regression noun An analytic method to measure the association of one or more independent variables with a dependent variable.
- regression to the mean noun The phenomenon by which extreme examples from any set of data are likely to be followed by examples which are less extreme; a tendency…