---
title: When is a Trend Really a Trend? – Changes in Short-term Disability Experience | Integrated Benefits Institute
description: A hot topic recently, at least among those who benchmark or report on disability experience, has been the existence and direction of any disability benefits changes in recent years. This Research Insights discusses the difference between identifying true, significant differences in STD experience compared to artifacts of sample size and distribution. And what about attribution […]
---

[Blog ](https://blog.ibiweb.org/blog)

# [When is a Trend Really a Trend? – Changes in Short-term Disability Experience | Integrated Benefits Institute](https://blog.ibiweb.org/blog/when-is-a-trendreallya-trend-changes-in-short-term-disability-experience)

 Written by [Integrated Benefits Institute](https://blog.ibiweb.org/blog/author/integrated-benefits-institute) | Feb 1, 2011 2:00:00 PM

A hot topic recently, at least among those who benchmark or report on disability experience, has been the existence and direction of any disability benefits changes in recent years. This Research Insights discusses the difference between identifying true, significant differences in STD experience compared to artifacts of sample size and distribution. And what about attribution to cause for benefits fluctuations? The discussion warns against substituting speculation and conjecture for real statistical explanation.

[View full post](https://blog.ibiweb.org/blog/when-is-a-trendreallya-trend-changes-in-short-term-disability-experience)

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