SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE APPLIED STATISTICAL APPROACH FOR MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY THEORY AND THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH IN METROLOGY AND TESTING

Statistical methodology coming from the mathematical branch of probability theory, and powerfully helped today by the alliance of computing science and other fields of mathematics gives ways of “making the data talk”. The place of statistical methods in metrology and testing is presented. Emphasis is put on some difficulties encountered when wishing to apply statistical techniques in metrology: importance of the traditional mathematical assumptions of many statistical techniques, difference between a confidence interval and other intervals (coverage interval,…), difficulties caused by the differences in terminology and concepts used by metrologists and statisticians. At last information is given about standardization organizations involved in metrology and statistics.