Why do we need the uncertainty factor?
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Updated: Nov 6, 2025

Experimental Research Examining How People Can Cope with Uncertainty Through Soft Haptic Sensations
Published on: September 16, 2015
Abstract:
The uncertainty factor is a new way to express measurement uncertainty. It is especially applicable when the uncertainty is large (e.g., expanded relative uncertainty > 20%), which occurs in some analytical methods, and also when the uncertainty includes that arising from the primary sampling of highly heterogeneous materials. The upper and lower confidence limits of the uncertainty interval are calculated by multiplying and dividing the measurement result by the uncertainty factor, rather than adding and subtracting the traditional uncertainty value.
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