Errors of Measurement: Regression Toward the Mean

John Martin Bland

Errors of Measurement: Regression Toward the Mean

Health Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

In 1886, Francis Galton published an article titled “Regression Towards Mediocrity in Hereditary Stature.” Interested in heredity, Galton had obtained measurements on heights of 205 sets of parents and their 913 adult children. He noticed that if he selected families where the parents were tall, the average height of the children was less than that of their parents, whereas if he selected families where the parents were short, the average height of the children was greater. Galton called this “regression towards mediocrity”; it is now known as“regression towards the mean,” as the term mediocrity has acquired disparaging connotations. The same thing happens with the children: for tall children, the mean height of their parents isless; for short children, the mean height of their parents is greater. This is a statistical, not a genetic, henomenon. This entry discusses how regression toward the mean works, providing several examples.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods
Editors	Mike Allen
Place of Publication	Thousand Oaks
Publisher	SAGE
Pages	441-446
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Print)	9781483381435
Publication status	Published - 28 Jun 2017

Bibliographical note

© 2017 SAGE Publications. This is an author-produced version of the published chapter. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

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© 2017 SAGE Publications. This is an author-produced version of the published chapter. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details
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Cite this

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title = "Errors of Measurement: Regression Toward the Mean",

abstract = "In 1886, Francis Galton published an article titled “Regression Towards Mediocrity in Hereditary Stature.” Interested in heredity, Galton had obtained measurements on heights of 205 sets of parents and their 913 adult children. He noticed that if he selected families where the parents were tall, the average height of the children was less than that of their parents, whereas if he selected families where the parents were short, the average height of the children was greater. Galton called this “regression towards mediocrity”; it is now known as“regression towards the mean,” as the term mediocrity has acquired disparaging connotations. The same thing happens with the children: for tall children, the mean height of their parents isless; for short children, the mean height of their parents is greater. This is a statistical, not a genetic, henomenon. This entry discusses how regression toward the mean works, providing several examples.",

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