TY - JOUR
T1 - A structural model of direct measurement
AU - Giordani, Alessandro
AU - Mari, Luca
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - In the last few decades foundations of measurement have developed so as to account for both the role of
modeling in measurement, in particular relating to the presence and the effects of measurement uncertainty,
and the fact that any measurement is performed by using instruments that work on the basis of
transduction effects and provide justified results only in so far as they are properly calibrated. This has
triggered a new interest about the role of instruments in the models of measurement. The structure of
the process has been variously studied in reference to the connection between measured properties
and indications provided by instruments, and to the way in which intersubjective information on the
measurand is acquired through instrument calibration. From such a background this paper proposes a
comprehensive structural model of direct measurement, whose functional elements, empirical and informational,
are presented with a bottom-up strategy as a set of interrelated modules. The result, shown to
be a generalization of some of the models currently available in the literature of measurement science,
highlights the key role of scales for measurement, clarifies the conceptual and operative relations
between direct measurement and calibration, and identifies the principal sources of measurement uncertainty
in the structural context of the process. This model is intended to interpret both physical and nonphysical
measurements, and as such it is a component of a ‘‘measurement across the sciences” research
programme.
AB - In the last few decades foundations of measurement have developed so as to account for both the role of
modeling in measurement, in particular relating to the presence and the effects of measurement uncertainty,
and the fact that any measurement is performed by using instruments that work on the basis of
transduction effects and provide justified results only in so far as they are properly calibrated. This has
triggered a new interest about the role of instruments in the models of measurement. The structure of
the process has been variously studied in reference to the connection between measured properties
and indications provided by instruments, and to the way in which intersubjective information on the
measurand is acquired through instrument calibration. From such a background this paper proposes a
comprehensive structural model of direct measurement, whose functional elements, empirical and informational,
are presented with a bottom-up strategy as a set of interrelated modules. The result, shown to
be a generalization of some of the models currently available in the literature of measurement science,
highlights the key role of scales for measurement, clarifies the conceptual and operative relations
between direct measurement and calibration, and identifies the principal sources of measurement uncertainty
in the structural context of the process. This model is intended to interpret both physical and nonphysical
measurements, and as such it is a component of a ‘‘measurement across the sciences” research
programme.
KW - Calibration
KW - Foundations of measurement
KW - Structural model
KW - Transduction
KW - Calibration
KW - Foundations of measurement
KW - Structural model
KW - Transduction
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/137276
U2 - 10.1016/j.measurement.2019.05.060
DO - 10.1016/j.measurement.2019.05.060
M3 - Article
SN - 0263-2241
SP - 535
EP - 550
JO - Measurement
JF - Measurement
ER -