Are you using your favorite word incorrectly? (Other misuses of “parameter”)

The word parameter has been corrupted. Originally, it was just a mathematical term, but now it’s used in a vague way by the general public (Burchfield 2000, 570). Politicians and journalists love to talk about “the parameters of a situation” — it sounds so scientific! However, even a basic introduction to statistics for people who are afraid of mathematics will warn you that this is not the correct technical usage of the word (Rowntree 2000, 83).

Unfortunately, imprecise usage of the word parameter has infected the scientific world. In my last post, I explained what a parameter is and how it's different from a variable. But parameter is also confused with other words. For example, after reading that post, Mariusz Kowalewski of the University of Zurich emailed me that he often sees people writing parameter when they mean factor. (Thanks, Mariusz, for pointing this out.)

Biotechnologists have shown me that the phrase “operational parameters” is frequently used in low-impact journals to talk about operating conditions that are varied during experiments. But when I searched the first few pages of results on Google Scholar, I found that the phrase was used infrequently in Nature Biotechnology (2013 Impact Factor of 39.1), and when it was used, it was in a different context. Wiley-Blackwell publishes many books and journals about subfields of environmental biotechnology like wastewater treatment, and its style guide also prohibits this usage of parameter (Author unknown 2007, 8). [UPDATE, 2014.10.21: Thanks to Prof. Irena Wojnowska-Baryla of the University of Warmia and Mazury for giving the following examples of correct and incorrect usage of "parameter" in environmental biotechnology: "Operational parameters" are not "measured", but you can "estimate" or "calculate operational parameters".  Chemical Oxygen Demand and Biological Oxygen Demand are usually best called "characteristics". Similarly, a table from an experimental study would present the "characteristics of the inoculant", not the "parameters of the inoculant".]

The Council of Biology Editors (1994, 115) (now the Council of Science Editors) have written that parameter does not mean the same thing as index or indicator (or variable). They believe that these misuses of parameter are not only imprecise, but pompous.

Zeiger (2000, 20) has a list of words commonly confused with parameter in her thorough, detailed textbook, Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers. She lists characteristic, condition, constant, criterion (the plural form is criteria), factor, index, measure, perimeter, and variable. She also recommends a simple way to avoid using parameter incorrectly: don’t use it unless you’re talking about an equation (and I would emphasize that even then, you need to be careful not to confuse it with a variable or a constant).

So let the politicians pontificate about the "parameters" of problems and situations. We all use certain words to show that we are “cool”, or smart, or belong to a certain group — remember high school? But shouldn’t you use the word accurately and precisely? You know, like a scientist?

REFERENCES
Author unknown. 2007. Wiley-Blackwell House Style Guide. Huddersfield: The Charlesworth Group.
Burchfield, R. W. 2000. Fowler’s Modern English Usage. New York: Oxford University Press.
Council of Biology Editors. 1994. Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers, 6th Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rowntree, Derek. 2000. Statistics Without Tears: An introduction for non-mathematicians. London: Penguin Books.
Zeiger, Mimi. 2000. Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers, 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.