A property or attribute of a material that is measured, compared or noted. Attributes
are ordinarily qualitative characteristics, but quantitative characteristics (variables)
may be converted into attributes by assigning items to certain categories on the basis
of the measured values. The value of the characteristic determined as a result of
an observation or test is the observed value; when determined by a specified test
method, it is called the test result. The concentration or quantity of an analyte
as estimated by use of a sample is usually the characteristic of interest in analytical
chemistry.
Source:
PAC, 1990, 62, 1193
(Nomenclature for sampling in analytical chemistry (Recommendations 1990))
on page 1201
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
