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Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astronomy, [3] and physics, which many philosophers from Descartes, Leibniz, and Kant to the logical positivists took as paradigms of rational and objective knowledge. [4] These sciences have been practiced in many cultures from antiquity [5] [6] to modern times.
The better an explanation is at making predictions, the more useful it frequently can be, and the more likely it will continue to explain a body of evidence better than its alternatives. The most successful explanations – those that explain and make accurate predictions in a wide range of circumstances – are often called scientific theories ...
A measurement system can be accurate but not precise, precise but not accurate, neither, or both. For example, if an experiment contains a systematic error, then increasing the sample size generally increases precision but does not improve accuracy. The result would be a consistent yet inaccurate string of results from the flawed experiment.
Over time, as successive modifications build on top of each other, theories consistently improve and greater predictive accuracy is achieved. Since each new version of a theory (or a completely new theory) must have more predictive and explanatory power than the last, scientific knowledge consistently becomes more accurate over time.
Precision takes all retrieved documents into account. It can also be evaluated considering only the topmost results returned by the system using Precision@k. Note that the meaning and usage of "precision" in the field of information retrieval differs from the definition of accuracy and precision within other branches of science and statistics.
Accuracy can be seen as just one element of IQ but, depending upon how it is defined, can also be seen as encompassing many other dimensions of quality. If not, it is perceived that often there is a trade-off between accuracy and other dimensions, aspects or elements of the information determining its suitability for any given tasks.
Definitions of knowledge aim to identify the essential features of knowledge. Closely related terms are conception of knowledge, theory of knowledge, and analysis of knowledge. Some general features of knowledge are widely accepted among philosophers, for example, that it involves cognitive success and epistemic contact with reality.
Demands on the accuracy of the formulation of scientific knowledge and its communication require minimizing the internal vagueness with which one connotes (vaguely, emotionally and subjectively interprets) [16] linguistic constructs of the communication language, and thus improve the accuracy of the message. Various scientific procedures aim to ...