Appendix BMeasurement Theory and Statistics

The quantities used in estimation and measurement have an underlying mathematical basis. This appendix describes measurement scales and their implications for calculating values. It also reviews concepts in statistics useful for estimators. Measurement scales also affect the types of statistical tests that you can use to draw conclusions about a set of measurements.

B.1 Measurement and Scale Types

Measurement uses a specified mathematical model (a “mapping”) to assign values (numbers or symbols) to represent properties of actual entities. If the mathematical model faithfully “captures the essence” of the property, you can use mathematics to manipulate the model’s values and draw valid conclusions ...

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