Cross-disciplinary concepts and terms in measurement

A discussion on some key concepts and terms in measurement is proposed for the purpose of promoting fruitful dialogue among scientists belonging to different disciplines. This revision of terms requires both their current use in the communities involved to be examined and their role in scientific theories to be investigated. The latter aspect is mainly pursued in this paper and key terms such as (measure) value, measuring system, measurement value and measurement model are discussed. Two measurement theories are considered, deterministic and probabilistic, the former describing an ideal measurement process, the latter accounting for uncertainty. The meaning of the measure value in a probabilistic context is elicited and a taxonomy of uncertainty sources proposed. Lastly, the role of modelling in measurement is discussed.