MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 2048 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
Set of concrete elements, organized in view of a measurement project and method, explicitely formulated and applicable to certain specific systems.
According to J.L. DESTOUCHES: “A model of this measurement system must be built, as well as a model of the measurement process, being it a physical, biological, or economical measurement” (1990, p.480).
The properties of the measurement system were stated by P. GONELLA (1976) and J.L. DESTOUCHES quotes them as follows: “A measurement device must produce a ”measurement signal“ shaped by the measurement interaction, which brings out some information about the measured parameter, and becomes elaborated by a chain of transductors, called measurement instruments, until it produces a ”reading signal“, received by the observer (which may be even another instrument).
- “A distinction must be made between lecture (a description of the output signal) and the measurement (a description of the signal measured at the entry of the measurement device), which is expressed by a set of numbers related to the measurement unit. This is the ”calibration relation“ of the instrument which provides the relation between lecture and measure.” (1990, p.480).
Thus, it is clear that any measurement is based on some preconception, depends of the characteristics of the instrument used, is generally registered in accordance with the perceptive capacity of the receiver and, finally, is interpreted in function of the observer's model.
Two more steps have entered the process under the form of computer data processing, which implies the sometimes hazardous translation of measurement data into a data system fit for computer use… and the final retranslation of the results.