Standard error (SE) – Quantifies how different the sample mean (the average of the data values you have) is likely to be from the mean for the whole population mean (i.e., what you are trying to estim...Standard error (SE) – Quantifies how different the sample mean (the average of the data values you have) is likely to be from the mean for the whole population mean (i.e., what you are trying to estimate). The data are displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the position on the vertical axis.