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AQA Science: Glossary - Reliability
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The results of an investigation may be considered reliable if the results can be repeated. If someone else can carry out your investigation and get the same results, then your results are more likely to be reliable.
One way of checking reliability is to compare your results with those of others. The reliability of data can be improved by carrying out repeat measurements and calculating a mean.
e.g. Rachael, Reg and Robin are using stopwatches to record the time taken for a pendulum to swing back and forth. Their results are reasonably similar, which means they can feel confident in the reliability. By averaging their results, the mean will probably be quite accurate - i.e. close to the true value.
| Student | Time (s) |
| Rachael | 1.27 |
| Reg | 1.31 |
| Robin | 1.33 |
- Calculate the mean value of the time for one swing.
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