Reliability and Validity Analysis in the Field of Tumor; Common Mistakes

Abstract

Reliability (precision) and validity (accuracy) are two important methodological issues in all fields of researches. The reliability is being assessed by inappropriate tests which all of them are among common mistakes. For quantitative variable Intra Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and for qualitative variables weighted kappa should be used. Sensitivity, specificity,)positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), likelihood ratio positive and likelihood ratio negative as well as diagnostic accuracy and odds ratio are among the tests to evaluate the validity of a single test compared to a gold standard. For reliability and validity analysis, appropriate tests should be applied by clinical researchers. Otherwise, misdiagnosis and mismanagement of the patients in routine clinical care cannot be avoided using inappropriate tests to assess reliability and validity.