To the Editor: I am concerned about errors in simple statistical concepts in articles recently published in Circulation. First, I worry about the widespread use of the standard error of mean (SEM) to describe the variability of numerical data. Specifically, SEM was used in 30% of the clinical investigations and reports and in 76% of the basic science reports analyzed for this purpose (the first...

introduction: accreditation assesses performance, or capacity to perform, against predetermined standards. it typically combines external quality assurance, through a process of peers review, with elements of self-regulation through internal and selfdirected assessment. this study is an attempt to identify the quality of pediatrics residency educational programs regarding predetermined standard...

today, through out the world, medical education has two critical needs: need for structural reform and innovative plans and then need for social accountability in terms of educational program quality and its effectiveness. educational assessment and accreditation could be considered as operational (executive) strategy to meet both needs. of outmost important as the first toward educational asse...

fast enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (fast-elisa) was compared with the standard elisa for the diagnosis of human hydatidosis. seventy serum samples including 30 from hydatidosis patients (surgically confirmed), healthy control individuals not infected with any parasitic diseases (n=/20) and from others with different parasitic infections including, toxocariosis (n=5), fasciolosis (n=5), tric...

Standard deviation (SD) and standard error (SE) are quietly but extensively used in biomedical publications. These terms and notations are used as descriptive statistics (summarizing numerical data), and they are used as inferential statistics (estimating population parameters from samples). I review the use and misuse of SD and SE in several authoritative medical journals and make suggestions ...