Question

If a biochemical test gives the same reading for a sample on repeated testing, it is inferred that the measurement is:

• A. Precise.
• B. Accurate.
• C. Specific.
• D. Sensitive.

Hint:

Same reading every time on the same sample is about repeatability, which is precision, not accuracy.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Define precision.
Precision means how close repeated measurements of the same sample are to each other. A test is precise if it gives the same, or nearly the same, result every time you run it on the same sample, whether or not that result is the true value.

Step 2: Define accuracy for comparison.
Accuracy means how close a measured value is to the true or actual value. A test can be precise but not accurate, for example if it consistently gives a reading that is shifted away from the true value by the same amount each time.

Step 3: Apply this to the question.
The question describes a test that gives the same reading every time it is repeated on a sample. This is describing reproducibility of the result, which is the definition of precision, not accuracy. Accuracy would need us to know the true value and compare the reading against it.

Step 4: Rule out the other options.
Specificity refers to how well a test correctly identifies people without the disease as negative, it has nothing to do with repeatability of a numeric reading. Sensitivity refers to how well a test correctly identifies people with the disease as positive. Neither term describes repeatability of the same sample's reading.

Step 5: Final answer.
Same reading on repeated testing of a sample describes precision.