Comment on “On the Failure of the Area Metric for Validation Exercises of Stochastic Simulations” (Eça, L., Dowding, K., and Roache, P. J., 2022, ASME J. Verif., Validation, Uncertainty Quantif., <b>7</b>(4), p. 041005)

The article by Eca, Dowding, and Roache [1] claims that the area metric [2] is a “failure” and “unacceptable” as a model validation metric. They attempt to support their opinion by considering an example problem and the example in ASME V&amp;amp;V Standard 10.1 [3]. They also introduce a new validation metric, which they refer to as the alternative area metric, which they believe will solve the “failure” of the area metric. This response to their article will show that they are conceptually incorrect concerning (a) what a model validation metric should express, (b) what is the proper interpretation of the area metric, and (c) how stochastic simulations inform decision makers.