stouen

[Unregistered]

Dear teachers,

I would like to ask if there's a difference between "efficient" and "effective"?or if they are interchangeable?or do they go hand in hand?

I wonder if my interpretation is correct like the following,

A method can be efficient means it's easy to be implemented and if it's effective, we can obtain coherent response by its application.
Does an efficient method will always lead to being effective? and vice versa?

I'm quite confused and I wish you could shed some light on this.

I thank you in advance for your aid.

 

[Linguist__]

(Not a teacher)

When discussing research (my knowledge is in medical research) there is a great difference between 'effectiveness' and 'efficiency'.

'Effectiveness' is whether the thing being researched would have the same results outside of the structure of a research study.

'Effeciency' is a measure of whether the thing being researched is worth it - in terms of money, effort, time etc.

A third distinction is 'efficacy', which is related to 'effectiveness'. 'Efficacy' is whether the thing being researched obtained the desired results within the structure of a research study.

If something is efficient, it doesn't mean it's effective. If something is effective, it doesn't mean it's efficient. It is best if the thing is both effective and efficient rather than one or the other.