Abstract
Although some measurements can be made on any scale (including a continual scale), cost and speed considerations sometimes tip the scales toward using ordinal measurements. This paper presents a way to evaluate classical metrological characteristics, such as error, uncertainty and precision of single and repeated measurements based on the legitimate basic operations for ordinal data. The only legitimate measurement operations among ordinal variables are limited to equal or greater than/less than, the usual assessment measures such as average, standard deviation cannot be applied. Consequently, in order to receive reliable results and draw valid conclusions from ordinal measurements it is essential to develop and use only the appropriate methods.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their fruitful and important remarks that helped us to improve the paper. We are also very grateful to Dr. Ilya Kuselman, The National Physical Laboratory of Israel which inspired us to write this article.
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Bashkansky, E., Gadrich, T. Some metrological aspects of ordinal measurements. Accred Qual Assur 15, 331–336 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-009-0620-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-009-0620-x