4. MTB Step 3 - Precision, Accuracy, & Reliability

Question 1

PRECISION, ACCURACY, & RELIABILITY:

Precision

Answer 1

Precision means that the data points cluster around one point; it is the opposite of scattered or spread out.

• describes measurements that are immune from randomness.
• the opposite of scattered or spread out.

Question 2

PRECISION, ACCURACY, & RELIABILITY:

Accuracy

Answer 2

If something is True, it is Accurate. When people describe a test as the “GOLD STANDARD,” what they are saying is that it is the Most Accurate test:

• Accuracy is equivalent to Validity (Accuracy = Validity).
• The combination of Sensitivity and Specificity.

Question 3

PRECISION, ACCURACY, & RELIABILITY:

Reliability

Answer 3

Reliability indicates that a test can be Reproduced. Reliable measurements will come out the Same when Repeated (i.e., results do not show a drug is effective on one measurement then ineffective on the next measurement):

Rules:

• While a Reliable measurement does not drift, it is not necessarily accurate.
• A reliable measurement comes out the same again and again—but bear in mind that you can have a sample come out reliably wrong.
• A test might be reliably inaccurate, or a treatment might be reliably ineffective.