Lesley Jackson (X) (asker) Nov 1, 2011:

Question poster comment When you choose an answer to award points, the instructions are to choose the one that you found "most helpful." In my experience, that is not necessarily the first correct answer to appear.

Even though Giovanni's answer was the same as Lafayette's "in essence," I chose L's for the bit of insight he gave as to why it was "typical" deviation instead of "standard" deviation. That was helpful. Also, his answer was an actual translation of the queried term rather than just the Spanish for the acronym.

While G's answer did arrive first, he did not seem confident of it, writing, "Apparently, DT is the same as 'standard deviation'. You may want to check into this possibility," and putting his answer at level 2.

This may seem like splitting hairs, but one must choose an answer---and, in some cases, that involves splitting hairs. It often comes down to the references provided, but neither answerer provided any references here.

I meant no offense. Thank you.

Lafayette Eaton Nov 1, 2011:

Choice of answer Giovanni, your answer did contain the same information as mine. I think the choice reflects the personal preference of the question poster; I have had the same thing happen.

Giovanni Rengifo Nov 1, 2011:

CONFUSED I don't understand how someone provided the same answer I gave one day before and then his/her answer gets selected. Hmm...can somebody explain to me how this works?