Key Science Skills

Question 1

Accuracy

Answer 1

how close measured values are to their true value

Question 2

Precision

Answer 2

how close measured values are to each other

Question 3

Personal error

Answer 3

results of mistakes or misinterpretations of methods and/or readings by the experimenter

Question 4

Systematic error

Answer 4

error in measurement by the same amount/proportion in the same direction every time which also includes errors that are inherent in the experiment

Question 5

Random error

Answer 5

error in measurement that differs in amount/proportion each time experiment is conducted and is usually a ‘one-off’ error

Question 6

Validity

Answer 6

whether or not the experiment (and its components) is suitable to address the aim and hypothesis of the research

Question 7

Reproducibility

Answer 7

closeness of results from repeated experiments using the same method under different conditions

Question 8

Repeatability

Answer 8

closeness of results obtained using the same methods, materials and under the same conditions