Karl, Oh, thanks for the heads-up on this symbol change, I had not noticed it. This actually simplifies my life a bit. This usage of symbols is much more consistent with the symbols used in the stats text that I use. In the past, I've always had to try to get students to distinguish between the symbols as used in the textbook, and the symbols as used in APA format. Not surprisingly, that was somewhat confusing to many students. The one problem the change does introduce, however, is that many non-APA journals (and I have many biology majors taking my course) have also used SD for the estimated value. I'm hoping that those journals will come in line with this change.
John -- John Serafin Psychology Department Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA 15650 [email protected] From: "Wuensch, Karl L" <[email protected]> Reply-To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:49:47 -0400 To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Conversation: APA 6: s = estimated (from sample) population standard deviation Subject: [tips] APA 6: s = estimated (from sample) population standard deviation I just noticed that the APA now indicates that "s" should be used for the "Sample standard deviation (denominator SQRT(n - 1), while "SD" should be used for <population, denominator SQRT(n)> "Standard deviation. The addition of "s" to the table of statistical abbreviations and symbols is new to the sixth edition. Since it is the statistic rather than the parameter that we almost always report, I expect that "SD" will pretty much disappear from the future literature. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
