Measurement Accuracy

Measurement errors are discussed from a statistical viewpoint to form a basis for their consideration in measurement analyses. In particular, this paper (1) justifies the use of normal probabilitydensity distributions to describe measurement errors (2) derives expressions which describe the overall measurement error (3) examines the use of probability density distributions which view the true value as distributed about the measured value rather than the more conventional way of viewing the measured value as distributed about the true value (4) relates the conventional expression of measurement accuracy to the probability density distribution describing the measurement error and (5) discusses the numerical evaluation of measurement accuracy.