Evaluation of Analytical Data: A Practical Guide for Geoanalysts

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Abstract
Some of the techniques that the writer has found useful in the assessment of analytical data are described. These have been culled from statistical text books and scientific journals and it is hoped that the bringing together of this information will be helpful to other workers dealing with analytical data. The techniques include the ordering of data and elimination of outliers, the mean and median and their respective confidence intervals and a description of robust estimates of central tendency and non‐normal distributions. These are followed by methods that can be used in the comparison of data sets such as t‐tests and analysis of variance. There are three appendices, the first being a comprehensive list of statistical expressions and formulae; the second gives worked examples using the various techniques and tests described in the text; the third consists of statistical tables and notes on their use.