# The Impact of Technical Error of Measurement on Somatotype Categorization
## 5 Conclusions  
This study has demonstrated that somatotype can be accurately classified in simplified form when TEMs are low, although this may still lead to 29% of participants being mis-categorized into the incorrect somatotype group. Error needs to be kept as low as possible when calculating somatotype and may need to be even lower than that stated by ISAK \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline
**Author, Year** & **Participants** & **Population Somatotype** & **Somatotype Grouping** & **TEMs Reported?** & **Potential for Mis-Classification** \\ \hline [PERSON] et al., 2017 [14] & 15 male Judoists (training experience 10.0 \(\pm\) 2.8 years); 154 untreated students. & Judoists 3.21 [\(\pm\)0.78] & & & & Up to 6 judoists and 59 untrained students. \\ [PERSON] et al., 2020 [15] & 15 male Judoaks (training experience 10.0 \(\pm\) 2.8 years); 154 untreated students. & Judoists 3.90 [\(\pm\)1.56] & & & & \\ [PERSON] et al., 2020 [16] & 37 femalejudoaks (2020 [15]) & 3.65-6.35, 0.91-399 separated into 7 weight categories & Females range 2.17–4.44, 2.71–5.68, 0.22–3.48. & In descriptive text—detailed. & No & Up to 44 male and 27 femalejudoaks. \\ [PERSON] et al., 2018 [16] & 20 elite male bakers & 2.4 [\(\pm\)3.5] & In descriptive text—detailed & No & Up to 15 participants \\ [PERSON] et al., 2018 [17] & 70 male basketball players (young 10.1 \(\pm\) 35) and adult [n = 35] & Adult.47 [\(\pm\)1.07], 3.04 [\(\pm\)0.89]. & In descriptive text—detailed. & No & Up to 50 participants \\ [PERSON] et al., 2017 [18] & 144 Greek male & 3.05 [\(\pm\)0.74], 2.32 [\(\pm\)1.09], and position & Detailed no TEM provided. & & & \\ [PERSON] et al., 2019 [20] & 174 youth soccer players (U14 n = 34; U16 n = 40; U19 n = 100) & Range: 2.8–4.5, 3.2–5.2, 2.2–3.9 & Detailed & & & \\ [PERSON] and [PERSON], 2019 [22] & 150 untrained males (dated 10–20 years) & Median: 2.8, 4.3, 2.6. & Detailed & No & Up to 108 participants \\ [PERSON] et al., 2019 [23] & 148 trained athletes (aged 10–20 years) & Not given & Simple & No & Up to 57 participants \\ [PERSON] and [PERSON], 2018 [30] & 60 male PE students (15–17 years) & Not given & Simple & No & Up to 23 participants \\ [PERSON] et al., 2000 [35] & 63 male participants & 3.1 [\(\pm\)0.2], 3.7 [\(\pm\)0.2], 2.4 [\(\pm\)0.2] & Simple & & & \\ [PERSON] et al., 2005 [36] & 41 fit PE students & Range: 1.7–4.1, 2.0–4.8, 2.1–5.0. & Detailed & No & 30 participants \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Summary of reviewed somatotype literature using grouping to determine differences in outcome measures. for accreditation of the most technically skilled anthropometrists. If a participant is mis-categorized into the incorrect somatotype group, observations between groups could be mis-represented. For this reason, simplified categorization should be used in group comparison studies. It is also recommended that authors of somatotype papers clearly state the technical skill of the measurer and the TEMs of their measures so any potential misclassification can be accounted for. Future research could look to establish the minimum magnitude of error required to ensure exact categorization of somatotype grouping. Conceptualization, H.R.-S. and S.J. ; methodology, H.R.-S.; software, H.R.-S.; validation, H.R.-S., J.F. and S.J. ; formal analysis, H.R.-S.; investigation, H.R.-S.; resources, H.R.-S.; data curation, H.R.-S.; writing--original draft preparation, H.R.-S.; writing--review and editing, J.F. and S.J. ; visualization, H.R.-S.; supervision, J.F. and S.J. ; project administration, H.R.-S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding. The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of University of Winchester (protocol code BLS/11/15 and 06/11/2015). Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.