ON SOME KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS IN MEASUREMENT HAVING A CROSS–DISCIPLINARY IMPACT

Giovanni Battista Rossi

Abstract

A discussion about some key concepts and terms in measurement is proposed for promoting a fruitful dialogue among scientists of different disciplines having an experimental basis. This revision of terms requires both the examination of their current use in the involved communities and an investigation on their role in scientific theories. In the present paper, this second aspect is mainly pursued and key terms such as (measure) value, measuring system, measurement value and measurement model are discussed. Two theories of measurement are considered, deterministic and probabilistic, the former is apt to describe an ideal measurement process, the latter is able to account for uncertainty. The meaning of the measure value in a probabilistic contest is elicited and a new taxonomy of uncertainty sources is proposed. Lastly, the role of modelling in measurement is discussed.

Keywords

measurement science, measurement of quantities related to human perception, probabilistic theory of measurement

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IMEKO-TC1-TC7-2008-003.pdf

DOI

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IMEKO TC

TC1 - Education and Training in Measurement and Instrumentation

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