Precision VS accuracy

WaniKani
20

Wow, I didn’t expect such an interest regarding my question :stuck_out_tongue: Thanks everyone for your comments!

After discussing this with a Japanese friend and checking Wikipedia, this is my conclusion (in increasing order of scientific-y):

  1. For everyday conversation, 精度 seems to be the most natural way to describe the concept of “precision” (according to my Japanese friend).
  2. If you want to take it one step further, you can distinguish “accuracy” and “precision” like the image I posted in the beginning. I.e. such that “accuracy” means “close to the target” and “precision” means “several times the same value”. In this case: “accuracy” = 正確度 and “precision” = 精密度・精度 (synonyms).
  3. If you want to be as precise as possible, you include a third parameter: “trueness”, such that “accuracy = precision + trueness”. I.e. now “trueness” takes on the role of “being close to the real value” and “accuracy” is rather used as an overall term. In this case, “accuracy” = 正確度, “precision” = 精密度・精度 (again synonyms) and “trueness” = 真度.
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