Introductory physics students' treatment of measurement uncertainty

The process of scientific inquiry naturally leads to questions about how well an experimental result is known and whether or not the result agrees with a theoretical prediction. In order to answer these questions, the uncertainty of the measured result must be estimated and quantified, which can be accomplished with varying levels of sophistication.; The principal objective of this qualitative research is to examine and document the epistemologies and practices of introductory physics students related to measurement uncertainty. In meeting this objective, the conceptions and practices of experts are also examined in order to define a reference standard to which the student conceptions may be compared. A clear majority of these experts acknowledged that they learned to analyze errors in measurements while studying or teaching undergraduate lab classes, which is why the students in these lab courses are the primary focus of this research.; The findings from this study reveal that introductory physics students have difficulties with many of the fundamental aspects related to measurements and the comparison of measured values. The most significant of these are the reluctance to specify a quantitative estimate of the uncertainty in a measured value, the inability to recognize the primary source of uncertainty in an experimental result, and the failure to consider the uncertainty of a result when comparing measured values. Dozens of other difficulties are also documented in this study. It is expected that these findings will be used by the educational community to improve the curriculum on this topic that is fundamental to all areas of scientific investigation.