Aiming for the truth: understanding the difference between validity and precision

John R. Attia; Michael P. Jones; Belinda Suthers

doi:10.5694/mja16.00489

Aiming for the truth: understanding the difference between validity and precision

John R. Attia^*, Michael P. Jones, Belinda Suthers

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In teaching generations of registrars, a recurring theme is the conflation of the concepts of validity and precision, resulting in an erroneous understanding of the role of statistics. In this article, we clarify the definition of these two concepts, looking at what drives these measures and how they can be maximised.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	392-394
Number of pages	3
Journal	Medical Journal of Australia
Volume	205
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5694/mja16.00489
Publication status	Published - 2016

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title = "Aiming for the truth: understanding the difference between validity and precision",

abstract = "In teaching generations of registrars, a recurring theme is the conflation of the concepts of validity and precision, resulting in an erroneous understanding of the role of statistics. In this article, we clarify the definition of these two concepts, looking at what drives these measures and how they can be maximised.",

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AU - Attia, John R.

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AB - In teaching generations of registrars, a recurring theme is the conflation of the concepts of validity and precision, resulting in an erroneous understanding of the role of statistics. In this article, we clarify the definition of these two concepts, looking at what drives these measures and how they can be maximised.

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DO - 10.5694/mja16.00489

M3 - Letter

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VL - 205

SP - 392

EP - 394

JO - Medical Journal of Australia

JF - Medical Journal of Australia

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Aiming for the truth: understanding the difference between validity and precision

Abstract

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