Inference by Eye: Confidence Intervals and How to Read Pictures of Data

Wider use in psychology of confidence intervals (CIs), especially as error bars in figures, is a desirable development. However, psychologists seldom use CIs and may not understand them well. The authors discuss the interpretation of figures with error bars and analyze the relationship between CIs a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 2005-02, Vol.60 (2), p.170-180
Main Authors: Cumming, Geoff, Finch, Sue
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Confidence Intervals
Confidence Limits (Statistics)
Confidence Testing
Data analysis
Error of Measurement
Estimation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Guidelines
Humans
Inferences
Intervals
Psychologists
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics. Statistics. Methodology
Research Design
Research Methodology
Statistical Analysis
Statistical Inference
Statistical Significance
Statistics. Mathematics
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Summary:Wider use in psychology of confidence intervals (CIs), especially as error bars in figures, is a desirable development. However, psychologists seldom use CIs and may not understand them well. The authors discuss the interpretation of figures with error bars and analyze the relationship between CIs and statistical significance testing. They propose 7 rules of eye to guide the inferential use of figures with error bars. These include general principles: Seek bars that relate directly to effects of interest, be sensitive to experimental design, and interpret the intervals. They also include guidelines for inferential interpretation of the overlap of CIs on independent group means. Wider use of interval estimation in psychology has the potential to improve research communication substantially.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/0003-066X.60.2.170