Glossary - Research Basics and Terminology

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V

Validity

(Last edited: Tuesday, 14 March 2017, 8:55 AM)

Degree to which a result is likely to be true and free of bias
Test is measuring what is needed
Accuracy of a test
Example:

An interview guideline for breast cancer experts contains questions about the topic "breast cancer". This guideline includes previously defined research questions regarding the topic so that it will help in answering the required questions.

Further information: Understanding and using sensitivity, specificity and predictive values

Keyword(s):

Variance

(Last edited: Tuesday, 14 March 2017, 8:55 AM)

Measure of variation shown by a set of observations
Sum of the squares of deviations from the mean divided by the number of observations minus 1 (because it is a sample)
$s^2=( \sum\nolimits_{i=1}^n (x_i- \mu)^2)/(n-1)$
Example:

Set of numbers: 3,4,5,5,5,6,7

Keyword(s):