Toleranssivälejä

Toleranssivälejä is a Finnish term that translates to "tolerance intervals" in English. In statistics, a tolerance interval is a range that is expected to contain a specified proportion of the population with a given confidence level. Unlike confidence intervals, which estimate population parameters like the mean, tolerance intervals are designed to cover a range of individual values within a population.

For example, a manufacturer might use a tolerance interval to define the acceptable range for the weight of a product. They might state that with 95% confidence, 99% of their products will fall within a certain weight range. This differs from a confidence interval for the mean weight, which would provide a range where the true average weight is likely to lie.

The calculation of tolerance intervals typically involves estimating population parameters from a sample and then applying a factor that accounts for both the desired proportion of the population to be covered and the confidence level. The size of the sample and the variability within the sample data are crucial in determining the width of the tolerance interval. Wider intervals are generally required to achieve higher confidence levels or to cover a larger proportion of the population. Tolerance intervals are particularly useful in quality control, manufacturing, and other areas where understanding the variability of individual measurements is important.