Essentials of expressing measurement uncertainty

 
 
This is a brief summary of the method of evaluating and expressing uncertainty in measurement adopted widely by U.S. industry, companies in other countries,
 
NIST, its sister national metrology institutes throughout the world, and many organizations worldwide. These "essentials" are adapted from NIST Technical Note 1297 (TN 1297), prepared by B.N. Taylor and C.E. Kuyatt and entitled Guidelines for Evaluating and Expressing the Uncertainty of NIST Measurement Results, which in turn is based on the comprehensive International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. Users requiring more detailed information may access TN 1297 online, or if a comprehensive discussion is desired, they may purchase the ISO Guide. a companion publication to the ISO Guide, entitled the International Vocabulary of Basic and General Terms in Metrology, or VIM, gives definitions of many other important terms relevant to the field of measurement. Users may also purchase the VIM.
Background information on the development of the ISO Guide, its worldwide adoption, NIST TN 1297, and the NIST policy on expressing measurement uncertainty is given in the section International and U.S. perspectives on measurement uncertainty.