Important Concepts in Quality Control: Specificity

Specificity Example: Test Results

  • In the pool of 1,000 tested individuals, 600 actually had the condition.
  • The experimental method detected 875 positives, of which 275 were false. Of the 125 negatives detected by the experimental method, 25 were false.
  • The tried and true method detected only 625 positives, 25 of them false. 375 negatives were found as well, of which 50 were false negatives.
  • The experimental method detected far more positives, but a great number of these were false. The tried and true method, however, did generate more false negatives than the experimental method.

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