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Inter-Comparisons and Calibration

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Measurement and Probability

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Measurement Science and Technology ((SSMST))

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Abstract

How can we guarantee the quality of measurement, on a worldwide basis? This is possible, at least in physics, chemistry and engineering, thanks to the international system of metrology, that we have briefly introduced in Sect. 3.7.4. Basically, such a system operates at a national and international level.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In fact, in the weighted-mean procedure, each value is weighted by the inverse of its (stated) uncertainty. Thus, a wrong value accompanied by a low stated uncertainty will strongly affect the final mean.

  2. 2.

    In statistics, an estimator is called robust if it is weakly influenced by possible outliers.

  3. 3.

    Note the inversion of the inequality: since the travelling standard has been compared with standards at the NMIs, when the value obtained is greater, the standard must have been smaller.

  4. 4.

    We assign an apex to \(x_{c}\), either \(x_{c}^{\prime }\) or \(x_{c}^{\prime \prime }\), to distinguish between the two ways in which element \(c\), which is common to \(A_{1}\) and to \(A_{2}\), is treated in each of them.

  5. 5.

    As already noted, we distinguish between a measuring system and a measurement process, since the same measuring system usually can be employed in different measurement conditions, thus giving rise to a plurality of measurement processes.

  6. 6.

    Remember that the term “object” has to be understood in a wide sense and does not need to be a material object. For example, in the calibration of phonometers, it can be a standard sound.

  7. 7.

    See, e.g., Ref. [14] for an example of how to combine information from calibration with information on the measurement environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DIME Laboratorio di Misure, Universita degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Rossi

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  1. Giovanni Battista Rossi
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Correspondence to Giovanni Battista Rossi .

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Rossi, G.B. (2014). Inter-Comparisons and Calibration. In: Measurement and Probability. Springer Series in Measurement Science and Technology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8825-0_10

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