Interlaboratory quality assurance program

A procedure for evaluating statistically the performance of at least one apparatus in a pool of like apparatuses, by comparing the performance of said one apparatus with the performance of said like apparatuses, and by providing comparative performance indicators of said one apparatus, said procedure comprising the steps of:

• performing at least one substantially identical operation by each of said apparatuses in said pool, said operation including analyzing quantitatively a reference specimen having at least one known constituent;
• producing, as a result of said performing operation, associated resultant data by each of said apparatuses, for each separate operation;
• collecting said resultant data from said one apparatus and said like apparatuses;
• calculating from said resultant data the arithmetic mean data of all of the pool apparatuses;
• translating mathematically said resultant data from said one apparatus and said arithmetic mean data from said pool apparatuses into one pair of performance values for each said operation, said pair of performance values being indicators respectively specific to the accuracy and precision of performance of said one apparatus as compared to the accuracy and precision of performance of the pool apparatuses;
• and
• displaying graphically said pair of performance values as a single point, by using them as a pair of coordinates in a Cartesian coordinate system, said single point indicating both said accuracy and precision.

A procedure for evaluating statistically the performance of at least one apparatus in a pool of like apparatuses, by comparing the performance of said one apparatus with the performance of said like apparatuses, and by providing at least one comparative performance indicator of said one apparatus, said procedure comprising the steps of:

• performing at least one substantially identical operation by each of said apparatuses in said pool;
• producing, as a result of said performing operation, associated resultant data by each of said apparatuses, for each separate operation;
• collecting said resultant data from said one apparatus and said like apparatuses;
• calculating from said resultant data the arithmetic mean data of all of the pool apparatuses;
• computing mathematically from said resultant data and said arithmetic mean data the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation for said one apparatus and said pool apparatuses, and
• deriving therefrom at least one of (a) a Coefficient of Variation Index performance value and (b) a Coefficient of Deviation Index performance value, and
• providing said performance value as an indicator specific to at least one of (a) the precision of and (b) the accuracy of performance of said one apparatus as compared to at least one of said precision and said accuracy of performance of the pool apparatuses.

A procedure for evaluating statistically the performance of at least one apparatus in a pool of like apparatuses, by comparing the performance of said one apparatus with the performance of said like apparatuses, and by providing at least one comparative performance indicator of said one apparatus, said procedure comprising the steps of:

• performing at least one substantially identical operation by each of said apparatuses in said pool;
• producing, as a result of said performing operation, associated resultant data by each of said apparatuses, for each separate operation;
• collecting said resultant data from said one apparatus and said like apparatuses;
• calculating from said resultant data the arithmetic mean data of all of the pool apparatuses;
• translating mathematically said resultant data from said one apparatus and said arithmetic mean data from said pool apparatus into a pair of performance values which define coordinates, one specific to precision and the other specific to accuracy as compared to the precision and accuracy of the pool apparatuses;
• and
• displaying said pair of coordinates as a single point for visual interpretation, said single point indicating both the accuracy and precision.

A procedure for evaluating statistically the performance of at least one apparatus in a pool of like apparatuses, by comparing the performance of said one apparatus with the performance of said like apparatuses, and by providing at least one comparative performance indicator of said one apparatus, said procedure comprising the steps of:

• performing at least one substantially identical operation by each of said apparatuses in said pool;
• producing, as a result of said performing operation, associated resultant data by each of said apparatuses, for each separate operation;
• collecting said resultant data from said one apparatus and said like apparatuses;
• calculating from said resultant data the arithmetic mean data of all of the pool apparatuses;
• translating mathematically said resultant data from said one apparatus and said arithmetic mean data from said pool apparatus into a pair of performance values for each said operation, one specific to precision and the other specific to accuracy, both specific to said one apparatus as compared to the precision and accuracy of the pool apparatuses, said precision performance value being defined as the Coefficient of Variation Index, and said accuracy performance value as the Standard Deviation Index.