What term describes the closeness of measurements to the true value?

What term describes the closeness of measurements to the true value?

• A. Precision
• B. Accuracy
• C. Calibration
• D. Uncertainty

Answer: (B)

Closeness to the true value is accuracy. It describes how close the average of your measurements is to the actual value you’re trying to hit, reflecting how much systematic error is present. Precision, on the other hand, is about repeatability—how tightly the individual measurements cluster together. You can have measurements that are precise but not accurate if they consistently hit the same wrong value, or accurate but not very precise if they average to the right value but scatter widely. Calibration helps improve accuracy by correcting biases, and uncertainty captures the range within which the true value is believed to lie given the measurements.

Closeness to the true value is accuracy. It describes how close the average of your measurements is to the actual value you’re trying to hit, reflecting how much systematic error is present. Precision, on the other hand, is about repeatability—how tightly the individual measurements cluster together. You can have measurements that are precise but not accurate if they consistently hit the same wrong value, or accurate but not very precise if they average to the right value but scatter widely. Calibration helps improve accuracy by correcting biases, and uncertainty captures the range within which the true value is believed to lie given the measurements.