receiver operating characteristic (ROC)

The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is a tool used to evaluate how well a test or model distinguishes between two conditions, such as disease vs. no disease. It plots the true positive rate (sensitivity) against the false positive rate (1-specificity) at various thresholds. The shape of the curve shows the test's ability to correctly identify positives and negatives; the closer it is to the top-left corner, the better. The area under the curve (AUC) quantifies overall performance, with values closer to 1 indicating excellent discrimination and 0.5 meaning no better than chance.