An event or statement that provides the impulse for an occurrence. Turns out there is some signal amongst the noise though. indication, sign, symptom, hint, pointer, suggestion, intimation, clue, manifestation, demonstration. How accurate are the polls in predicting the election? If the data are noisy (for example, because it’s a small sample size, has low external validity, or small effect size), the poll numbers won’t correlate well with a change in the chance of a different President.ĭoes money make you happier? The signal (correlation between income and happiness) would be noisy because of confounders - you’d expect people who earn more to be happier because they are in positions of higher social status, they have better working conditions, being happier could cause people to be rich etc. If I speak German, for most people, there will be no signal, just noise, although Claus can detect the actual signal. When the lieutenant gave the signal, five police officers charged into the apartment. Noisy data are data from which it is hard to determine the true effect. signal noun C (ACTION) an action, movement, or sound that gives information, a message, a warning, or an order: I tried to call but kept getting a busy signal.

The same is true in statistics - there is something you’re trying to actually measure (say, how many Americans want to leave for Canada), but the data could be noisy (by including everyone who just makes a trip over the border to buy affordable medication). He turns the dial but it’s just picking up white noise and, after a few frustrating minutes, he manages to pick up a signal and tune into a station. Ok, you don’t use radio anymore, so imagine your dad can’t call you to get help setting up his Spotify, so is trying to tune into a radio station. To get a sense of this, imagine trying to tune into a radio station. The noise is the random, unwanted variation or fluctuation that interferes with the signal. The signal is the meaningful information that you’re actually trying to detect. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. The amplitude or frequency of voltage, current, electric field strength, light, and sound can be varied as signals representing information. What is signal and noise? Definition and explanation signal sg nl A fluctuating quantity or impulse whose variations represent information.

Signal definition