A fundamental structure
for the measurement process is developed.
Measurement is defined as the determination of the number of units
of a particular quantity or property presented by the measured object
or sample. Measurement is distinguished from qualitative observation
and data interpretation. The limited sources of measurement numbers
(scalar, digital, and counting readouts) reveal that all measurements
except manual counting require a measurement device. Measurement systems
consist of devices which convert one form of data encoding to another.
They begin with the sensor and proceed through intermediate conversion
devices until the readout device produces numbers. There are three
classes of conversion devices: input (sensor), intermediate, and readout.
The characteristics of the conversion devices in a system determine
the overall system characteristics. Counting measurements have several
unique characteristics. In automated counting, conversion devices
are used in event detection, discrimination, and boundary setting.
Variance in counting arises from event detection, boundary setting,
and random event occurrence. Entire measurement systems or conversion
device subsystems may operate by null comparison. Conversion devices
in null comparison systems have a different arrangement. The time
relationship of multiple or successive measurements affects the information
content of data sets. Time-correlation of acquired data is critical
in all stimulus-response measurement systems such as chromatography
and time-of-flight mass spectrometry and in many subsystems such as
lock-in amplifiers and box-car integrators.