In: Economics
What is a standard error?
What does it mean for an estimate to be "statistically
significant"?
The standard error (SE) of a statistic is the approximate standard deviation of a statistical sample population. The standard error uses the standard deviation to measure the accuracy with which a sample distribution represents a population.
Statistical significance is a way of proving that a certain statistic is reliable. When you make decisions based on the results of experiments that you are running, you want to make sure that a relationship actually exists and statistical significance helps in ensuring it.