ACCURACY AND PRECISION

INTRODUCTION:
Accuracy and precision are two important factors to consider when taking data measurements and
statistical analysis. Both accuracy and precision reflect how close a measurement is to an actual
value, but accuracy reflects how close a measurement is to a known or accepted value, while
precision reflects how reproducible measurements are, even if they are far from the accepted value.

ACCURACY
The closeness of agreement between a test result and the accepted reference value
 “a test result” = an observed, calculated, or estimated value
 “the accepted reference value” = the true value

PRECISION
The closeness of agreement between independent test results obtained under stipulated conditions
 repeatability: precision under similar conditions
 reproducibility: precision under different conditions

An easy way to remember the difference between accuracy and precision is:

Accurate is Correct. (or Close to real value)

Precise is Repeating. (or Repeatable)

SINGLE POINT:
A measurement which is highly reproducible tends to give values which are very close to each other.

AUTHOR : BARANITHARAN SUNDARESAN