Chapter 29 Weighting Data

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Equal Weight

Although the variance of each data point should be considered there are situations when an equal weight should or could be applied to each data point. When the data values are similar it can be expected that the variance is similar. Thus, if the spread of data values is small the variance may be similar and an equal weight scheme may be useful. Alternately, if the data can be determined very precisely the choice of weighting scheme may not be as important and an equal weight scheme may be useful.

Figure 29.3.1 Drug concentrations after Oral Administration

The range in concentration values in Figure 29.3.1 is quite modest. These may be analyzed successfully using equal weight for each data point.

Figure 29.3.2 Concentration versus Time with small error bars

The deficiencies associated with the equal weight scheme are more pronounced when trying to fit more than one data set simultaneously. In these cases, careful consideration of weighting between and within the data sets is important.

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