Question

Which of the following sentences is an accurate description of the standard error?

A) It measures the spread of individual scores around the mean.

B) It provides an estimate of how well the sample mean represents the population mean.

C) It indicates the size of the overall range of scores in a distribution.

D) It is synonymous with the standard deviation.

Answer 1

The standard error measures how well the sample mean approximates the population mean and gauges the precision of the sample estimates.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to the question is B) It provides an estimate of how well the sample mean represents the population mean. The standard error is a statistical term that refers to the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of a statistic, most commonly the mean. It's used to determine how much variability exists within a sample's mean when compared to the actual population mean. The standard error is critical in constructing confidence intervals and for hypothesis testing, as it helps gauge the precision of the sample mean and how it would differ if the entire population was sampled.