The terms selectivity and specificity are often used interchangeably, the term specific generally refers to a method that produces a response for a single analyte only, while the term selective refers to a method that provides responses for a number of chemical entities that may or may not be distinguished from each other. If the response is distinguished from all other responses, the method is said to be selective. Since there are very few methods that respond to only one analyte, the term selectivity is usually more appropriate Selectivity and specificity are measures of the reliability of measurements in the presence of interferences. Where the measurement stage.
