Systematic Versus Random Error
Measurement errors can be split into two components: random error and systematic error.
Random error is always present in a measurement. It is caused by inherently unpredictable fluctuations in the readings of a measurement apparatus or in the experimenter's interpretation of the instrumental reading.
Whereas, systematic errors are predictable, and typically constant or proportional to the true value. If the cause of the systematic error can be identified, then it can usually be eliminated. Systematic errors are caused by imperfect calibration of measurement instruments or imperfect methods of observation, or interference of the environment with the measurement process, and always affect the results of an experiment in a predictable direction. Incorrect zeroing of an instrument leading to a zero error is an example of systematic error in instrumentation.
The Performance Test Standard PTC 19.1-2005 “Test Uncertainty”, published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), discusses systematic and random errors in considerable detail. In fact, it conceptualizes its basic uncertainty categories in these terms.
Read more about this topic: Random Error
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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“The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)