The phrase "a modest deviation" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a small or slight change from a standard, norm, or expected outcome.
Example: "The results of the experiment showed a modest deviation from the predicted values, indicating that further investigation may be necessary."
Alternatives: "a slight variation" or "a minor divergence."
The data had a modest deviation, with corresponding probability of 0.137.
The result is 86573 on 86400 df, for p = 0.33799 and Z = 0.41795 The graph is striking, though the terminal (test) value is a modest deviation.
In this case, The Noosphere Cafe's minute-level data showed only a modest deviation in 1999, while the raw data actually have a trend opposite to our exploratory expectation.
We found a borderline significant quadratic association for chronic liver disease, but graphing the results showed only a modest deviation from linearity (data not shown).
The precise estimate of the change in mortality rate might be less certain in this case due to the fact that the proportional hazards assumption underlying the CoxPH model is rejected (P-value < 10−15) and a modest deviation from the assumption (r = 0.17) is detected.
Second, using this formalism, we have shown for three mammalian lineages (human, mouse and rat) that the variance in the rates for divergence in different gene triplets is not large enough to greatly overdisperse the f2 metric and can be fit by a model that assumes a modest deviation from a model of gene-invariant transition rate constants.
A survey of all earthdays from 2000 to 2006 reveals that all have a modest positive deviation, and a cumulative Z of 2.498, after the slight decrease from the 2010 result.
Mean FFT across populations was lower than 0.1, suggesting modest deviation from random mating due to individual populations.
Last, the evidence of modest deviation (p = 0.04) from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium in the control US White population suggests that this variant may be under selection consistent with our hypothesis of selective pressure on genes involved in human parturition.
The meta-analysis of stage 1 discovery genome scans of macronutrient intake showed modest deviation from the expected distribution of P values under the null hypothesis, particularly for protein intake (see Supplemental Figure S1 under "Supplemental data" in the online issue).
In fact, many of the government's policies have proved so effective that although John Key, an affable ex-banker, manfully strove to invoke Barack Obama by calling for "change," he offered only modest deviations from his opponents' agenda.
