Measurement error

In any scientific discipline, no matter how correctly and carefully the different phases and moments of observation (experiments, investigations, etc.) have been defined, the possibility of making an error is practically unavoidable. The possibility of satisfying the requirements of any scientific observation is strictly connected to the possibility of defining and identifying the error, which represents the hypothetical component of any process of observation of reality. In general, it can be said that the error (or distortion) is any deviation between the results obtained and the true results. The factors that can produce such distortions are present, albeit to varying degrees, in any scientific study and can take different forms. The problem is to determine the extent to which these factors influence the results and whether that influence is sufficiently large to render the results uninterpretable. Statistics enables us to define procedures and methodologies to verify and evaluate the validity of observations by identifying the errors and their sources.