The standard deviation, or one of its derivatives, such as relative standard deviation or pooled standard deviation, derived from this practice, provides an estimate of precision in a measured value. Such results are ordinarily expressed as the mean value ± the standard deviation, that is, X ± s.

If the measured values are, in the statistical sense, "normally" distributed about their mean, then the meaning of the standard deviation is that there is a 67 % chance, that is 2 in 3, that a given value will lie within the range of ± one standard deviation of the mean value. Similarly, there is a 95 % chance, that is 19 in 20, that a given value will lie within the range of ± two standard deviations of the mean. The two standard deviation range is sometimes used as a test for outlying measurements.

The calculation of precision in the slope and intercept of a line, derived from experimental data, commonly is required in the determination of kinetic parameters, vapor pressure or enthalpy of vaporization. This practice describes how to obtain these and other statistically derived values associated with measurements by thermal analysis.