Strength in Numbers

Measurement based on sound generic principles is a great tool for universal applications. The wide applications of measurement are driven by the success of the natural sciences in describing and explaining the world. The requirements of wide applications of measurement demand the adoption of a general and inclusive concept of measurement. Measurement must be based on a standard that is fixed and verifiable. Any measurement, to be valid, must be traceable to the standard. Measurement is an empirical process. This means firstly that the process of measuring is one of observation and not theory or speculation. Further, the relations between quality manifestations on which scales of measurement are based must be empirically observable relations and not postulated by a theory. Any measurement involves uncertainty. To develop a scale of measurement for a hitherto unmeasurable quality it is necessary first to establish a concept of what is to be measured.