A result that indicates that a given condition is present when it is not. An exa

Question

A result that indicates that a given condition is present when it is not. An example of a false positive would be if a particular test designed to detect cancer returns a positive result but the person does not have cancer. Watch this video "There's a Math for That - The Paradox of the False Positive" hosted by kingscollegelondon to understand the math of false positives.

Why do false positives occur?
Explain how false positives relate to statistics.
If you get a positive result on a medical test, how can you find out what the chance is that your result is a false positive?

Explanation / Answer

A false positive is where you receive a positive result for a test, when you should have received a negative results. It’s sometimes called a "false alarm" or “false positive error".

It's usually used in Medical field, but it can also be applied to other arenas like statics, Software testing.

In Statistics,a false positive is usually called a Type-1 error.

A type-1 error is the incorrect rejection of true Null hypothesis, Usually a type-1 error leads one to conclude that a supposed effect or relationship exists when in fact it doesn't.

A Type-2 error is the failure to reject a false null hypothesis.

If someone gets a positive result on a medical test, we can findout the probability of chance that the result is false positive by using Bayes's Theorem.

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