Scientific Thinking

Type I and Type II Errors: The Two Ways You Can Be Wrong

10 min read

Every decision made under uncertainty involves the possibility of being wrong in two fundamentally different ways. You can conclude that something is true when it is actually false. Or you can conclude that something is false when it is actually true. These two errors are not mirror images of each other. They have different causes, different consequences, and respond to different remedies. The framework of Type I and Type II errors provides precise language for these two distinct ways of being wrong and, more importantly, for thinking clearly about the trade-offs that arise when trying to minimize both simultaneously. In...

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