Statistical Notation

Graham Hole, Research Skills 2012: page 1

APA format for statistical notation and other things:
Statistical abbreviations:

ANCOVA

ANOVA

α

β

Analysis of Covariance

Analysis of Variance

alpha, the probability of making a Type 1 error in hypothesis testing

beta, the probability of making a Type 2 error in hypothesis testing

CI

d

d’

df

confidence interval

Cohen’s measure of effect size

d-prime (a measure of sensitivity, used in
Signal Detection Theory)

degrees of freedom

F

Fmax

H

Ha

F-ratio (used in
ANOVA, ANCOVA and
MANOVA)

Hartley’s Fmax test value (a test for homogeneity of variance) Kruskal-Wallis test value

Alternative hypothesis

Ho

HSD

LSD

MANOVA

Null hypothesis

Tukey’s Honestly
Significant Difference

Fisher’s Least
Significant Difference

Multivariate Analysis of
Variance

M (or �)
?

Mdn

MS

MSE

Mean (usually, the sample mean)

Median

Mean Square

Mean square error

µ

n

N

ns

mu, designating the population mean

Number in subsample

Total number in sample

Not significant

p

%

σ

r

Probability

Percentage

sigma, designating the population standard deviation (n version of the SD formula)

Pearson's correlation

R

s (or σn-1)

s

coefficient of determination multiple correlation

sample standard deviation (n-1 version of the SD formula)

sample variance (n-1 version) rs

SD

SE (or SEM)

SS

Spearman’s rho

Standard deviation

Standard error

Sum of Squares

r

2

2

Graham Hole, Research Skills 2012: page 2

t

T

U

x

t-test value

Wilcoxon test value

Mann-Whitney test value

Horizontal axis on a graph

y

z

Σ

2
Χ

Vertical axis on a graph

z-score

Sum

Chi square test value

Other commonly used abbreviations :

°C

cm

°F

g

Degrees Centigrade h Centimetre(s)
IQ

Degrees Fahrenheit