Measurement Fundamentals: A Pragmatic View

Measurements are more and more required in an increasing variety of human activities to acquire reliable information useful for effectively supporting decision-making processes. Furthermore, the entities whose properties are to be measured and the measuring systems are becoming increasingly complex, hardly to be modeled and managed. In this rapidly evolving scenario, several issues concerning the fundamentals of measurement science and technology arise. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some aspects of the crucial question about which evaluation processes can be considered measurements. Rather than focusing on formal conditions or technological constraints, we propose a pragmatic characterization of measurement, under the assumption that a better comprehension of the concept can be achieved by identifying and discussing the basic features which justify the reliability attributed to measurement results. With such an interdisciplinary approach, this work aims at promoting a broad discussion among interested researchers, even working in different scientific disciplines, so to increase the synergies among different research areas and to improve the body of knowledge about measurement fundamentals. © 1963-2012 IEEE.