an estimate of the costs that could arise from assigning an incorrect category or status to a situation or condition. For example, it would be worthwhile to estimate the misclassification cost of prematurely telling the public that previously contaminated town water is now safe to drink, versus waiting longer than needed to let people know they can drink the water. In this case, the misclassification cost of an early announcement would be much more serious—possibly involving severe illness or even loss of life—than that of a later announcement.