how can you improve the reliability of your results

More measurements of a single event lead to greater confidence in calculating an accurate average measurement.Įspecially helpful if an individual measurement may have a lot of variability because it has to be made quickly, it is hard to determine the exact endpoint, or is technically difficult and thus prone to errors.ĭoes not add value if the measurement is clear-cut, like the answer to a survey question about a person's age or measuring the dimensions of a room in meters. Measuring a single item or event more than once to eliminate error in measuring. Technique for increasing the signal-to-noise ratio Table 1, below, outlines the types of scenarios where each technique is most useful. Cost, time, and resource availability will help dictate which techniques are possible and which aren't.

Rarely would any one scientific question lend itself to using all six of these signal-to-noise reducing techniques, but to maximize the accuracy of your results, you should try to incorporate as many of these as reasonably possible into your experimental designs. Making repeated measurements of one item,.Six common means of increasing the signal-to-noise ratio are: When designing and analyzing experiments, the goal is to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio so that you can draw accurate conclusions. Hess, Founder and President, Science BuddiesĪll experimental observations are a combination of signal, the true effect of a variable on an outcome, and noise, the random error inherent in your experimental technique. Sandra Slutz, PhD, Staff Scientist, Science Buddies

How can you improve the reliability of your results