Quant #09: Precision and Accuracy

To understand the precision and accuracy of a measurement, we need to understand what is meant by measurement. Measurement can be defined as the process that converts an abstract concept into an empirical indicator, such as a measured variable. Once that process is done, the resulting measurement can be precise, accurate, or both.

Measurement precision refers to how close measurement values are to each other. In the context of quantitative research, precision would refer to how close a measurement value of a given variable is close to other values of the same measurement. Measurement accuracy, on the other hand, refers to how close a measurement value is to the true value. In the context of quantitative research, accuracy can refer to how close the measured variable is to the true concept it's trying to capture.