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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

barre de dispersion

English translation:

range bar

Added to glossary by Tony M
Jun 15, 2009 09:32
14 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

barre de dispersion

French to English Tech/Engineering Mathematics & Statistics Graphical presentation of data
URGENT!

On a graphical plot of 2 characteristics (as it happens, strength vs. temperature, though that's pretty irrelevant), the individual points on the graph represent averaged values, and each point also has a sort of 'I'-shaped vertical 'bar' that indicates the range of values obtained about that average. I am very used to seeing these in technical/scientific documents, but I'm blowed if I can think what they're actually called! I've tried Googling for obvious things like 'spread bar' and 'dispersion bar', but so far not come up with anything properly convincing.

Is there any kind soul out there who can put me out of my misery, please? Here's the actual sentence in which the term occurs:

Les Figures 1 et 2 font apparaître des valeurs absolues, ce qui permet de visualiser les barres de dispersion obtenues pour chaque point.
Proposed translations (English)
5 +4 range bars
4 error bars
References
I an unable to find “barres de dispersio...

Discussion

Tony M (asker) Jun 15, 2009:
No, it's OK... The point is that figure 3 shows ratios, not absolute values, and so no 'range bar' is possible on that graph.

It does make sense in the wider context!
SJLD Jun 15, 2009:
bad French It's back-to-front IMO. Les Figures 1 et 2 font apparaître les barres de dispersion pour chaque point, ce qui permet de visualiser des valeurs absolues obtenues. No?
chris collister Jun 15, 2009:
my error?? With a bit more research on my part, Tony, it seems that there are, indeed, graphs in which the max and min values are used as a "range". Having dealt with continuous variables for most of my life, and in an environment where the median was generally frowned upon, this was a bit of a shock, but hey, you learn something new every day. Nevertheless, the presence of a bar of non-zero length is indicative that the point in the middle is associated with at least some uncertainty.
Tony M (asker) Jun 15, 2009:
Chris, I don't doubt that in many cases they do indeed indicate an 'error'; however, in this particular instance, it is clear that they are referring to actual measured upper and lower limit values rather than any calculated 'error'; there are enough hits for 'range bars' in clearly relevant contexts to convince me that the term is indeed used, albeit perhaps less frequently.
chris collister Jun 15, 2009:
error?? If the mean has been derived from a set of data, then there will always be an "error" (expressed by the standard deviation as a measure of dispersion) associated with the calculation of the mean, plus an associated distribution (usually, though not always, gaussian). I have never come across these bars referred to as anything other than "error bars".
Tony M (asker) Jun 15, 2009:
range Yes, in this particular instance, they are indicating the actual range of the values from which the mean has been derived, so not an actual 'error' here.
SJLD Jun 15, 2009:
range or error Obviously, depends on what is displayed in the graph - you said it was the range of values about the mean.
Tony M (asker) Jun 15, 2009:
spread bars I have found a few Ghits that seem to use this term to describe the same idea; can anyone confirm, please?

Proposed translations

+4
5 mins
Selected

range bars

Peer comment(s):
agree B D Finch
11 mins
thanks
agree Attila Piróth
36 mins
thanks
agree kashew
48 mins
thanks
agree Marianna Tucci
56 mins
thanks
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks a lot! I feel that in my particular document, this is the best solution, and the answer has been validated by the client."
21 mins

error bars

These are invariable referred to as "error bars", the length of each one conventionally representing one sample standard deviation (the conventional measure of dispersion) of all the measurements made at that point. Sometimes they are the experimenter's best guess, however!
Note from asker:
Thanks a lot, Chris, for your as ever valued and authoritative contribution. In this particular instance, there is no issue of measurement uncertainty or error, and for this reason I feel this would not be the best term to use in my specific text.
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Reference comments

12 mins
Reference:

I an unable to find “barres de dispersion” on any French site, only “barrs d’erreur” or “courbe de dispersion” or “barres verticales”.

Comptes Rendus Mécanique : Effet de l'anisotropie élastique ...
- [ Translate this page ]
Si les orientations des grains voisins sont prises en compte, une dispersion intra-orientation est obtenue (barres d erreur). Fig. 2. ...
linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1631072106000350 - Similar
by M Sauzay - 2006 - Related articles

PDF]
Mesure de l'indice d'un prisme à l'aide d'un goniomètre, en ...
- [ Translate this page ]
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Sur chaque point de la courbe théorique, nous dessinerons donc une barre d'incertitude de 2 x ... courbe de dispersion obtenue avec un prisme de Crown. ...
pagesperso-orange.fr/alainarb/textespdf/Prisme_73.PDF – Similar

PDF]
Chapitre 5 Diagrammes et graphiques Dernière mise à jour le 24 mai ...
- [ Translate this page ]
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
24 mai 2009 ... visualiser dans le temps les différentes étapes qui composent un projet. .... Le graphique numéroté 5 montre les valeurs absolues : il permet de voir .... Un graphique de dispersion ou nuage de points est un graphique ..... cas lorsque le graphique en barres verticales a pour échelle horizontale des ...
www.mazerolle.fr/Statistique-descriptive/PDF-DOCX/Stats-Cha... – Similar

so, there may be an error in the original French 


sorry I am unable to put you out of your misery

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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-06-15 13:08:11 GMT)
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HI

I often look for the original French phrase to see if it makes sense in a slightly different context. Occasionally I find that the phrase does not exist on Google which sets the alarm bells ringing :-)
Note from asker:
Thanks, Liz! What a good idea to try searching first for the FR term — it hadn't occurred to me to do that on this occasion (panic setting in!) I don't think it is probably an 'error', but maybe the FR writer didn't quite know what to call them either!
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