In what context was it used? If the student is trying to communicate with
non-statisticians, his audience may well understand the phrase margin of
error better than the phrase confidence interval.
One could argue that the phrase confidence interval is more rigorously
defined than the phrase margin of error. On the other hand, most real
situations partially violate the assumptions behind most statistical tests,
so I'm not convinced that rigor is particularly important.
----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Allan Reese" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 7:07 AM
Subject: Margin of error
> A student has submitted work using the phrase "margin of error". From
> checking a few web pages, this appears widely used as a synonym for
> confidence interval. Am I alone in finding this a sloppy misuse?
>
> I would associate "margin of error" with engineering, not as a
> probabilistic measure but as the envelope of acceptable range. As such,
> the margin of error is something you specify rather than measure -
> inverting the use implies abdicating control.
>
> Comments please, to me. Should I correct the student, or update my own
> thinking?
>
> R. Allan Reese Email: [log in to unmask]
>
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