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RE: Radon Health Risks



<<Precision is an indication of the uncertainty in the measurement -- e.g., the number of significant figures the measuring instrument reliably gives. >>
i.e., it can give you precisely the same wrong answer each time.

Jack Earley
Radiological Engineer

-----Original Message-----
From: RuthWeiner@aol.com [mailto:RuthWeiner@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 3:56 PM
To: dkosloff1@EMAIL.MSN.COM; healthrad@HOTMAIL.COM; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: Re: Radon Health Risks

In a message dated 1/22/02 11:34:06 AM Mountain Standard Time, dkosloff1@EMAIL.MSN.COM writes:


What are precision problems (as opposed to accuracy problems)?  


Accuracy is conformity to a "true" value.  That is, a measuring instrument is accurate if it gives you the same measurement as other calibrated instruments give -- a measurement that has been independently confirmed to be real.

Precision is an indication of the uncertainty in the measurement -- e.g., the number of significant figures the measuring instrument reliably gives.


Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.
ruthweiner@aol.com