Topic summary

Measurement error in home scales, with a worked standard deviation

Research Methods › Statistics effect size heterogeneity number needed to treat confounding worked example Solved Wiki

This is a generated summary. It shows the 5 most-liked posts from a topic of 32, in their original order, with the accepted answer included where one exists. It is a reading aid and it will miss nuance — the full topic is the record.

t.vargaTL25 Feb 2026#3

SHermansen, post #2: Adding the measurement that the opening post says would settle it. Number needed to treat: how many people need to be treated to prevent one bad outcome or achieve one good outcome. More intuitive than relative risk reduction. A partial answer, offered because a partial answer beats none. Go to post

Agreed on measurement error in home scales, with one qualification that I think matters. The reasoning holds for the case as described. Change the starting assumption and it does not, and the starting assumption is the part nobody states.

31 likes in reply to #2 6mo

an.zamoraTL2 Solution14 Feb 2026#7

methods_draft, post #4: Least significant change is the concept that makes measurement precision usable. Below it, a difference between two readings is not distinguishable from noise. The short version is the first sentence; the rest is why. Go to post

Relative risk and odds ratios: both compare the rate in one group to the rate in another. Relative risk is easier to understand. Odds ratios are standard in many analyses but can be misinterpreted.

Adding this to the thread rather than to the wiki, because I am not confident enough for the wiki.

7 likes in reply to #4 5mo

e.kimaniTL25 Mar 2026#18

Noted, and I have changed what I was going to do on the strength of it.

25 likes 5mo

v.krastevTL214 Mar 2026#24

Knowlton, post #17: Confirming post #14 from a second method, which matters more than confirming it from a second person. Posting my measurement error in home scales numbers with the method attached so they can be discounted properly. Uncontrolled, unblinded, and collected by someone who wanted a particular answer. Go to post

Picking up post #21: that is the part I would want checked first.

Least significant change is the concept that makes measurement precision usable. Below it, a difference between two readings is not distinguishable from noise.

30 likes in reply to #17 4mo

NardoneTL2Member26 Mar 2026#32

k.haddad, post #27: Worth separating two things that post #25 runs together. On measurement error in home scales, I would rather understate and be corrected upward than overstate and be quoted. That is a house style here and it is a good one. Go to post

Relative risk and odds ratios: both compare the rate in one group to the rate in another. Relative risk is easier to understand. Odds ratios are standard in many analyses but can be misinterpreted.

The claim is narrower than it sounds, and deliberately so.

32 likes in reply to #27 4mo

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About the Statistics categoryResearch Methods › Statistics · 8 replies
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