NIST TN 1297: Foreword

Guidelines for Evaluating and Expressing the Uncertainty of NIST Measurement Results

Foreword (to the 1993 Edition)

Results of measurements and conclusions derived from them constitute much of the technical information produced by NIST. It is generally agreed that the usefulness of measurement results, and thus much of the information that we provide as an institution, is to a large extent determined by the quality of the statements of uncertainty that accompany them. For example, only if quantitative and thoroughly documented statements of uncertainty accompany the results of NIST calibrations can the users of our calibration services establish their level of traceability to the U.S. standards of measurement maintained at NIST.

Although the vast majority of NIST measurement results are accompanied by quantitative statements of uncertainty, there has never been a uniform approach at NIST to the expression of uncertainty. The use of a single approach within the Institute rather than many different approaches would ensure the consistency of our outputs, thereby simplifying their interpretation.

To address this issue, in July 1992 I appointed a NIST Ad Hoc Committee on Uncertainty Statements and charged it with recommending to me a NIST policy on this important topic. The members of the Committee were:

L. E. Smith Office of the Director, NIST; Chair
D. C. Cranmer Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory K. R. Eberhardt Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory R. M. Judish Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory R. A. Kamper Office of the Director, NIST/Boulder Laboratories C. E. Kuyatt Physics Laboratory	J. R. Rosenblatt Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory J. D. Simmons Technology Services D. A. Swyt Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory B. N. Taylor Physics Laboratory R. L. Watters Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory

This action was motivated in part by the emerging international consensus on the approach to expressing uncertainty in measurement recommended by the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). The movement toward the international adoption of the CIPM approach for expressing uncertainty is driven to a large extent by the global economy and marketplace; its worldwide use will allow measurements performed in different countries and in sectors as diverse as science, engineering, commerce, industry, and regulation to be more easily understood, interpreted, and compared.

At my request, the Ad Hoc Committee carefully reviewed the needs of NIST customers regarding statements of uncertainty and the compatibility of those needs with the CIPM approach. It concluded that the CIPM approach could be used to provide quantitative expressions of measurement uncertainty that would satisfy our customers' requirements. The Ad Hoc Committee then recommended to me a specific policy for the implementation of that approach at NIST. I enthusiastically accepted its recommendation and the policy has been incorporated in the NIST Administrative Manual. (It is also included in this Technical Note as Appendix C.)

To assist the NIST staff in putting the policy into practice, two members of the Ad Hoc Committee prepared this Technical Note. I believe that it provides a helpful discussion of the CIPM approach and, with its aid, that the NIST policy can be implemented without excessive difficulty. Further, I believe that because NIST statements of uncertainty resulting from the policy will be uniform among themselves and consistent with current international practice, the policy will help our customers increase their competitiveness in the national and international marketplaces.

January 1993

John W. Lyons
Director,
National Institute of Standards and Technology