Rule of three (statistics)
Rule of Three (statistics)
The Rule of Three is a statistical rule of thumb in medicine and healthcare. It is used when an event has not occurred in a sample with n observations, suggesting that the rate of occurrences could be as high as 3/n.
Pronunciation
- Rule of Three: /ruːl ɒv θriː/
Etymology
The term "Rule of Three" is derived from the mathematical principle that something must occur at least three times to establish a pattern or trend. In the context of statistics, it refers to the rule of thumb that if an event has not occurred in a sample with n observations, the rate of occurrences could be as high as 3/n.
Related Terms
Application in Medicine
In medicine, the Rule of Three is often used in clinical trials and epidemiological studies. For example, if a new drug is tested on 100 patients and none of them show any adverse effects, the Rule of Three suggests that the rate of adverse effects could be as high as 3/100, or 3%.
Limitations
While the Rule of Three is a useful tool in statistics, it is not without limitations. It assumes a uniform distribution of events, which may not always be the case in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, it does not account for the possibility of multiple events occurring in a single observation.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Rule of three (statistics)
- Wikipedia's article - Rule of three (statistics)
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski