How Replicates Can Inform Potential Users of a Measurement Procedure about Measurement Error: Basic Concepts and Methods
1
Basel Academy for Quality and Research in Medicine, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
2
Integrative Prehistory and Archeological Science (IPAS), Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
3
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense, Denmark
4
Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Diagnostics 2021, 11(2), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11020162
Received: 7 November 2020 / Revised: 6 January 2021 / Accepted: 18 January 2021 / Published: 22 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning and Evaluating Agreement and Reliability Studies)
Measurement procedures are not error-free. Potential users of a measurement procedure need to know the expected magnitude of the measurement error in order to justify its use, in particular in health care settings. Gold standard procedures providing exact measurements for comparisons are often lacking. Consequently, scientific investigations of the measurement error are often based on using replicates. However, a standardized terminology (and partially also methodology) for such investigations is lacking. In this paper, we explain the basic conceptual approach of such investigations with minimal reference to existing terminology and describe the link to the existing general statistical methodology. This way, some of the key measures used in such investigations can be explained in a simple manner and some light can be shed on existing terminology. We encourage clearly conceptually distinguishing between investigations of the measurement error of a single measurement procedure and the comparison between different measurement procedures or observers. We also identify an unused potential for more advanced statistical analyses in scientific investigations of the measurement error.
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Keywords:
measurement error; replicates; agreement; repeatability; reproducibility; reliability
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MDPI and ACS Style
Vach, W.; Gerke, O. How Replicates Can Inform Potential Users of a Measurement Procedure about Measurement Error: Basic Concepts and Methods. Diagnostics 2021, 11, 162. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11020162
AMA Style
Vach W, Gerke O. How Replicates Can Inform Potential Users of a Measurement Procedure about Measurement Error: Basic Concepts and Methods. Diagnostics. 2021; 11(2):162. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11020162
Chicago/Turabian StyleVach, Werner; Gerke, Oke. 2021. "How Replicates Can Inform Potential Users of a Measurement Procedure about Measurement Error: Basic Concepts and Methods" Diagnostics 11, no. 2: 162. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11020162
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