Comparison of two (data mining) indirect approaches for between-subject biological variation determination

•Two indirect approaches for deriving between-subject biological variation were compared.•The approaches were expected Mean Squares (EMS) and Harris and Fraiser (H-F) methods.•The methods were assessed against 320 simulated mixed population scenarios.•EMS and H-F methods had 99% and 98% scenarios within ± 20% error of simulated true values, respectively.•EMS and H-F methods showed reliable performance under the simulation conditions examined.