A review of contemporary methods for the presentation of scientific uncertainty

Health Phys. 2012 Dec;103(6):714-31. doi: 10.1097/hp.0b013e31824e6f6f.

Abstract

Graphic methods for displaying uncertainty are often the most concise and informative way to communicate abstract concepts. Presentation methods currently in use for the display and interpretation of scientific uncertainty are reviewed. Numerous subjective and objective uncertainty display methods are presented, including qualitative assessments, node and arrow diagrams, standard statistical methods, box-and-whisker plots,robustness and opportunity functions, contribution indexes, probability density functions, cumulative distribution functions, and graphical likelihood functions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Computer Graphics
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Probability
  • Science / methods*
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Uncertainty*