Which quality control samples are used to measure accuracy and precision?

Which quality control samples are used to measure accuracy and precision?

• A. Blanks & calibrators
• B. Standards & duplicates
• C. Trip blanks & spikes
• D. Replicates & field blanks

Answer: (B)

Quality control in wastewater analysis looks at two key ideas: accuracy (how close a measurement is to the true value) and precision (how repeatable measurements are). Calibration standards provide a known concentration you measure against, so you can see how far your result is from the true value, which tells you about accuracy. Duplicates, or replicates, are multiple measurements of the same sample; how close those results are to each other shows how precise your measurement process is. Together, standards and duplicates give direct insight into both accuracy and precision. Other QC samples, like blanks or spikes, mainly check for contamination or recovery issues and don’t address both accuracy and precision in the same way.

Quality control in wastewater analysis looks at two key ideas: accuracy (how close a measurement is to the true value) and precision (how repeatable measurements are). Calibration standards provide a known concentration you measure against, so you can see how far your result is from the true value, which tells you about accuracy. Duplicates, or replicates, are multiple measurements of the same sample; how close those results are to each other shows how precise your measurement process is. Together, standards and duplicates give direct insight into both accuracy and precision. Other QC samples, like blanks or spikes, mainly check for contamination or recovery issues and don’t address both accuracy and precision in the same way.