korratavuse

Korratavus is a concept used in metrology and scientific measurement to describe the consistency of repeated measurements under fixed conditions. It refers to the closeness of agreement between successive measurements of the same quantity when the measurement method, apparatus, operator, and environment are kept the same. In practice, korratavus indicates how precisely a measurement can be reproduced within a single laboratory or under identical testing conditions.

Korratavus is often contrasted with reproducibility, which concerns agreement of measurements when some conditions change—for example, using different instruments, operators, or laboratories. While korratavus focuses on intra-condition precision, reproducibility addresses inter-condition robustness.

Several factors influence korratavus, including instrument precision and calibration, stability of the measurement setup, environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, vibrations), sample preparation, and the inherent variability of the method. Assessing korratavus typically involves performing multiple repeated measurements under identical conditions and summarizing the results with statistics such as standard deviation or coefficient of variation. In some contexts, repeatability limits or within-laboratory standard deviations are reported to quantify the degree of closeness among measurements.

Understanding korratavus is essential for method validation, quality control, and uncertainty analysis. It helps determine whether a method can produce reliable results consistently and supports decisions related to calibration, detection limits, and process control. Language and terminology can vary by region, but korratavus generally denotes the repeatability aspect of measurement precision.