Informational uncertainty of measuring instruments

Abstract

Recently, there has been a revival of interest in the use of the information approach in the theory of measurements. Unlike the traditional approach, information theory does not evaluate error or uncertainty, but entropy and the amount of information. This article analyzes a number of recent publications that develop ideas for the information approach. The limitations and disadvantages of both the entropy approach and the concept of uncertainty are indicated. As a compromise solution, it is proposed to use a criterion based on the Bongard’s uncertainty and useful information. The concept of information uncertainty is proposed, which is estimated by the amount of negative useful information, that is, misinformation introduced by the measuring instrument. Some methods for calculating information uncertainty are described. The problems of using the uncertainty approach are noted. This approach does not imply the use of such a generalized characteristic of measuring instruments as an accuracy class. The article proposes an analogue of the accuracy class in the form of relative informational uncertainty, expressed as a percentage. This will make it possible to evaluate the quality of the measuring instrument by a single parameter, the calculation of which requires a minimum of computational operations.