Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jan 31.
Published in final edited form as: Neoreviews. 2015 Feb 1;16(2):e94–e108. doi: 10.1542/neo.16-2-e94

Figure 11.

Figure 11

Validity, precision, and accuracy. Validity is an assessment of how well a measurement represents the phenomenon of interest. A. The bull’s-eye (test or study) is located over the target practice manikin’s heart (phenomenon of interest). The pattern of tightness in the bullet holes indicates precision, and the location close to the center of the bull’s eye indicates accuracy. B. The bull’s-eye (test/study) is located away from the manikin’s heart and is not representing the phenomenon of interest, suggesting poor validity. The bullet hole pattern suggests high accuracy and precision. C. The pattern of tightness indicates precision, but these holes are located away from the center, suggesting poor accuracy. D. The test shows neither precision (wide scatter) nor accuracy (the holes are biased to the left). (21).