The word anatomy comes from the Greek ana-meaning up or through + tome meaning a cutting. Anatomy was once a cutting up because the structure of the body was originally learned through dissecting it. The word histology came from the Greek histo- meaning tissue + logos, treatise.
Definition: Reliability is the degree to which a measurement instrument gives the same results each time that it is used, assuming that the underlying thing being measured does not change.
The concepts of reliability and validity very important in sociological research: If data is reliable but not valid, then it may have limited use. We can make general statements about the world, but such statements may not actually apply to any particular social group.