Measurement
Measurement is the activities to give a number or symbol to some attributes of entities using clearly defined rules [Fen96]. For example attributes of a ball are color and size. The color can be red, green, or anything. The size can be small, normal, or big. To measure the color of a ball is the give a specific symbol to the ball according to rules in the color standard, and as well as to measure the size of the ball is to compare the diameter of the ball to the standard size of another ball. The rules are important to get consistency in the measurement, and in the end it will give a foundation for interpretation process.
The accuracy of the measurement will depend on the measuring instrument. A dark green ball will be measured different if the standard color for green is a light green. Thus, some errors might appear in measurement. So it is not easy sometimes to get an accurate measure. Once the value of measurements is obtained, we want to analyze them and synthesis a conclusion based on our goal of measurement.
References:
[Fen96] N. E. Fenton and S. L. Pfleeger, Software Metrics: A Rigorous & Practical Approach 2nd edition: PWS Publishing Company, 1997