- #1
dydxforsn
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I've done a decent amount of reading on the subject, and I used this method of course when reporting errors during lab experience I got as an undergraduate, but it was never quite fully explained to me why exactly we report a value +/- the standard deviation of the mean as our result. Why not just the standard deviation? I understand it's because we only took a sample of the population, but how in the heck does this problem get fixed and we magically get the standard deviation of the mean (which I might still need defined to me because I don't see how it could possibly be what it says it is) if we just divide σ by the square root of 'n'?..
I remember something about multiplying every point along the frequency distribution by each other and maximizing that by a derivative (so you're assuming that the 10 or so points you randomly sampled would just happen to be the most likely 10 points or some logic like that..) and then solving for the variables 'a' and 'b' of a gaussian curve that you assume the experimental data is going to conform to (which I guess I would also like to know if it's more than an assumption that experimental data will conform to a gaussian curve, I've never found an explanation of this either, they always just say "assume a gaussian curve"...) But if this method is used by what logic do people use to call this 'b' value found in this way the "standard deviation OF THE MEAN". I don't see how those particular semantics follow from that method.
Sorry if my irritation is openly transparent. This topic always poorly and frustratingly explained. None of my physics go into any kind of depth on this subject at all, I've completed my undergraduate and still don't know about this and have apparently no way of finding out (some of my other physics friends are also confused about how this comes about..)
I remember something about multiplying every point along the frequency distribution by each other and maximizing that by a derivative (so you're assuming that the 10 or so points you randomly sampled would just happen to be the most likely 10 points or some logic like that..) and then solving for the variables 'a' and 'b' of a gaussian curve that you assume the experimental data is going to conform to (which I guess I would also like to know if it's more than an assumption that experimental data will conform to a gaussian curve, I've never found an explanation of this either, they always just say "assume a gaussian curve"...) But if this method is used by what logic do people use to call this 'b' value found in this way the "standard deviation OF THE MEAN". I don't see how those particular semantics follow from that method.
Sorry if my irritation is openly transparent. This topic always poorly and frustratingly explained. None of my physics go into any kind of depth on this subject at all, I've completed my undergraduate and still don't know about this and have apparently no way of finding out (some of my other physics friends are also confused about how this comes about..)