False Positive

A false positive is a term used in medical testing wherein results falsely state that an individual has a disease or condition. For instance, the findings from a biopsy state that the patient is positive to have cancer; however, validating tests show that he does not actually have cancer. This error in data reporting is also utilized in statistics wherein the null hypothesis is erroneously rejected. This may be due to extraneous variables, statistical issues, and other related factors. In this case, the researcher may think that there is a significant difference or correlation between the variables when in fact, there is none. Nowadays, with widespread drug testing false positive (and false negatives) do occasionally slip into the system.