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standard error of the mean

standard error of the mean The standard error of the mean is the standard deviation of the distribution of sample means.

The standard error of the mean is the standard deviation of the distribution of sample means. It shows how much a sample mean would be expected to vary from sample to sample, and in a population it depends on the standard deviation and the sample size.

Also see

Sources

Drafting source: Online Statistics Education, version 2 (David M. Lane, project leader). Version 2; publisher statement snapshot 2026-10-18; SHA-256 0dcad9ee85f61f9e2bb24d26279de155ac749164ea4da2a3bffeabcf9ea471a6. “Standard Error of the Mean” (sem.html).
public-domain-US · Definition uses new wording; original source retains its stated licence. · Source snapshot SHA-256: 8e6fac0c97fd5fd538be1c681d005e87a45446c7bb084372dc5b7cd874a1a8ff

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PsychTerms (psychterms.org), CC BY 4.0, version 1. “standard error of the mean.” Development preview.

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