Abstract
IN the course of a recent investigation, of the lightning discharge1, it was found that scatter diagrams showing the variation with distance of the field changes set up by lightning flashes are liable to misinterpretation owing to a limitation in the recording apparatus which misses all records falling below a certain level. The effect of this limitation has been partly recognized by C. T. R. Wilson2 in his investigations of the lightning flash, but has been overlooked in later publications on this subject3. The misleading effect due to this limitation is demonstrated below, and it is shown that a similar error of interpretation is liable to occur in many other cases in which a statistical analysis is based on data obtained with apparatus having a similar limitation.
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References
Bruce, C. E. R., and Golde, R. H., J. Inst. Elec. Eng. (in the press).
Wilson, C. T. R., Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., A, 221, 75 (1921).
Lewis, W. W., and Foust, C. M., Trans. Amer. Inst. Elect. Eng., 50, 1139 (1931). Lutkin, F. E., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 171, 285 (1939). Norinder, H., J. Frank. Inst., 218, 717 (1934). Wormell, T. W., Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., A, 238, 249 (1939).
Appleton, E. V., and Chapman, F. W., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 158, 1 (1937).
Lewis, W. W., Trans. Amer. Inst. Elec. Eng., 47, 1111 (1928).
E.R.A. Report, Ref. A/S36, B.E.A.M.A. Journal, 42, 19 (1938).
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GOLDE, R. Errors of Observation due to Insturment Scale Limitations. Nature 148, 196–197 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148196b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148196b0
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