Sometimes the visual example doesn’t work well when describing math. So an alternate:
Pick a number 1 - 10. 8. Correct and accurate.
Pick a number 1 - 10. 3.1415926535. Uhh, precise, but not accurate.
Comment on Catch 22 vs. Rosenhan
cadekat@pawb.social 1 day ago
Huh, how accurate/precise (I always mix them up) were the real patients? Did they just identify every other patient as an imposter?
Sometimes the visual example doesn’t work well when describing math. So an alternate:
Pick a number 1 - 10. 8. Correct and accurate.
Pick a number 1 - 10. 3.1415926535. Uhh, precise, but not accurate.
I’d be interested in consistency too.
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
This shows the difference between accuracy and precision.
Image
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
The high accuracy, low precision regime seems so strange to me! I think not many would call that situation “high accuracy” with most of the shots missing the bullseye!
punkfungus@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
If you average out the low precision, high accuracy shots you will get a single point as your result. If that point is not already in the dead centre, then increasing accuracy is simply a matter of shifting that point closer to it. You can do that without increasing precision by moving the entire shot spread in that direction.
I’ve found this analogy often confuses people because in the shooting world the terminology is a little different. There the high precision spread would be considered high accuracy, with it only being a matter of adjusting the sights to get it on centre. And nobody is winning a shooting competition by arguing that the average of their shot spread is in the centre.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Yeah I get that the centre of the distribution is on the bullseye, it just doesn’t fit with the ordinary meaning of the word “accurate.”
It also falls apart with a small sample size. If I fire only a single shot and hit the bullseye, that doesn’t tell you anything. However, in everyday speech most people would describe that as an accurate shot.
Korval@lemmy.today 15 hours ago
There’s also a difference between not knowing the difference and always getting them mixed up. The diagram doesn’t help with the stated problem.
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
You’re not wrong, but visuals often help so it doesn’t hurt to share. I remember this picture when I need to differentiate the two terms, but some people use mnemonics or other memory devices.
gh0stb4tz@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Thank you.
rainwall@piefed.social 1 day ago
Accuracy is about thr abilty to hit a specific target, Precision is about being able to repeat it.