Susan Welsh (asker) Feb 3, 2010:

I think Alison and SJLD may be right http://www.answers.com/topic/cell-frequency

cell frequency - (statistics) The number of observations of specified conditional constraints on one or more variables; used mainly in the analysis of data obtained by performing actual counts.

Alison, if you're still there, "put it up" if you like.

SJLD Feb 3, 2010:

As Alison suggests, I also think it is referring to the number of observations in each "cell" or cell frequency. Certain statistical tests (chi square for example) are invalid if the expected cell frequencies are too small.

Erik Freitag Feb 3, 2010:

I'm asking because if you see the "Zellen" as entries in a matrix (the matrix being the "superstructure" with the "Zellen" being individual entries), the corresponding mathematical construct would be that of a "sparse matrix": A matrix where only very few entries contain a meaningful value. In that case, your source term "kleine Zellenbesetzung" could be translated as "sparsity of the matrix".

This isn't worth a CL higher than 1 without knowing more details of the related statistics.

I reckon the underlying concept is that the amount of data is insufficient for a "statistischen Häufigkeitsvergleich".

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful here...

Susan Welsh (asker) Feb 3, 2010:

@efreitag I don't really understand your question. The article is about evaluating mentally disturbed children using standardized testing. The statistics are thrown in briefly, not discussed at length. The "cells" would, I guess, be the number of children who fall into each of various categories. Does that make sense?

Erik Freitag Feb 3, 2010:

Susan, how does your source text call the superstructure of the "Zellen"?

Susan Welsh (asker) Feb 3, 2010:

@jumplanguage Thanks, but your reference deals with actual, physical cells. I'm not sure that carries over to a statistical concept of a cell.

Alison MacG Feb 3, 2010:

Not my field, but in statistics, Besetzungszahl = absolute frequency. Could it therefore be "cell frequency"? There do seem to be quite a few relevant hits for "low cell frequency" in categories in tables, etc.