Final answer:
The term 'validity' refers to the accuracy of a measurement, indicating how accurately a method measures what it is intended to measure. Reliability concerns the consistency of a measurement. Instruments should be both reliable and valid.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that refers to the accuracy of measurement is validity. Validity indicates how accurately a method measures what it is intended to measure. Meanwhile, reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement, meaning whether the same results are produced under the same circumstances. To be truly useful, a measurement instrument should be both reliable and valid, meaning that it consistently produces accurate results. There is a difference between accuracy and precision; accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the true value, whereas precision refers to the consistency of repeated measurements.