The Biased Balance: Observation, Formalism and Interpretation of a Dissymmetric Measuring Device
20 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2007
Date Written: January 2007
Abstract
This paper studies a balance whose unobservable fulcrum is not necessarily located at the middle of its two pans. It presents three different models, showing how this lack of symmetry modifies the observation, the formalism and the interpretation of such a biased measuring device. It argues that the biased balance can be an interesting source of inspiration for broadening the representational theory of measurement.
Keywords: Representational theory of measurement, biased measurement, bias, rationality, irrationality, observer, dependence, indeterminacy, invariance
JEL Classification: A0, B4, C0, D0
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Le Menestrel, Marc, The Biased Balance: Observation, Formalism and Interpretation of a Dissymmetric Measuring Device (January 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1002856 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1002856
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