Variability Matters

Maarten Jan Wensink, Linda Juel Ahrenfeldt and Sören Möller
Additional contact information
Maarten Jan Wensink: Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Winsløwsvej 9B, 5000 Odense, Denmark
Linda Juel Ahrenfeldt: Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Winsløwsvej 9B, 5000 Odense, Denmark
Sören Möller: Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Winsløwsvej 9B, 5000 Odense, Denmark

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Much of science, including public health research, focuses on means (averages). The purpose of the present paper is to reinforce the idea that variability matters just as well. At the hand of four examples, we highlight four classes of situations where the conclusion drawn on the basis of the mean alone is qualitatively altered when variability is also considered. We suggest that some of the more serendipitous results have their origin in variability.

Keywords: inequality; statistical inference; forecasting; lifespan; socioeconomic status; academic performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/157/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/157/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2020:i:1:p:157-:d:469382

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().