Methods/Statistics
Random error units, a novel method to express random error in epidemiological studies Imre Janszky* Imre Janszky Johan Håkon Bjørngaard Pål Romundstad Lars Vatten Nicola Orsini
The most frequently used methods for handling random error are largely misunderstood or misused by biomedical researchers. We propose a simple approach to quantify the amount of random error which does not require solid background in statistics for its proper interpretation. Expressing random error with the number of random error units (REU) does not require solid background in statistics for a proper interpretation and cannot be misused for making oversimplistic interpretations relying on statistical significance.