Accuracy in QC, defined as closeness to the true value, is described as which term?

Accuracy in QC, defined as closeness to the true value, is described as which term?

• A. Closeness of measured value to true value
• B. Reproducibility of repeated measurements
• C. Speed of analysis
• D. Ability to detect small quantities

Answer: (A)

Accuracy is about how close a measurement is to the true value. In quality control, this reflects how much bias the method has—the smaller the difference between the measured result and the actual value, the higher the accuracy. You can assess accuracy by comparing measurements to a known standard or reference value and checking for systematic deviation across multiple runs. It’s helpful to contrast accuracy with precision. You can have measurements that are very reproducible (high precision) but consistently off from the true value (low accuracy). For example, if the true value is 100 units and measurements cluster around 80–85, the results are precise but not accurate. The other options describe reproducibility (how consistently repeated measurements agree), speed (how fast the analysis is), or sensitivity (ability to detect small quantities), none of which capture the closeness to the true value.

Accuracy is about how close a measurement is to the true value. In quality control, this reflects how much bias the method has—the smaller the difference between the measured result and the actual value, the higher the accuracy. You can assess accuracy by comparing measurements to a known standard or reference value and checking for systematic deviation across multiple runs.

It’s helpful to contrast accuracy with precision. You can have measurements that are very reproducible (high precision) but consistently off from the true value (low accuracy). For example, if the true value is 100 units and measurements cluster around 80–85, the results are precise but not accurate. The other options describe reproducibility (how consistently repeated measurements agree), speed (how fast the analysis is), or sensitivity (ability to detect small quantities), none of which capture the closeness to the true value.