English Language & Usage Asked by Kevin Johnson on February 13, 2021
I am trying to find appropriate names for various components related to measuring something. For instance, given the following sentence:
100 kg of flour
I am able to come up with the following:
But I struggle with appropriate naming for:
the thing being measured
the thing undergoing the measurement
What is good, concise vocabulary to denote such terms?
Kindly take note that I am looking for vocabulary that applies to as many different contexts of measuring as possible. For this purpose, I am coining the following examples:
A person undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. This evaluation on an abstract level can be said to measure the sanity of a person. In this case; we have the following meta components:
the thing undergoing the measurement
the thing being measured
A person taking an IQ test. This is supposed to measure a person’s intelligence; or more specifically the g-factor
. Again, the components on an abstract level would be:
the thing undergoing the measurement
the thing being measured
A doctor testing out the effectiveness of medication on a volunteer. Again the components here are:
the thing undergoing the measurement
The thing being measured
Kinematic viscosity of oil
the thing undergoing the measurement
The thing being measured
In all of the above different scenarios, we can abstract away from the specific context of a psychiatric evaluation, IQ evaluation, medical evaluation, oil quality evaluation to that of the general context of measuring something. In all of those instances; as applies; we can map specific terminologies to:
The thing being measured
the thing undergoing the measurement
What are good, concise names for 4 and 5?
PS:
- The thing being measured
- The thing undergoing the measurement
What are good, concise names for 4 and 5?
The thing undergoing the measurement is normally the subject:
[Merriam-Webster]
3 c(1) : one that is acted on
// the helpless subject of their cruelty
3 c(2) : an individual whose reactions or responses are studied
Hence:
For the thing being measured, I would use parameter:
[Merriam-Webster]
2 : any of a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something
// parameters of the atmosphere such as temperature, pressure, and density
In experiments, you normally set parameters in order to produce a result.
But in this case, you are starting off with a result and working backwards—measuring the existing unknown parameters that have produced the result.
We normally refer to the name of a specific parameter when measuring it (temperature, pressure, and density, to use those from the example sentence in the definition), but parameter is the umbrella term for those things.
Correct answer by Jason Bassford on February 13, 2021
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