ASQ ASQ Certified Calibration Technician (CCT) 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'calibration' in a measurement context?
- Repairing a broken instrument
- The process of comparing a measuring instrument against a known reference standard to detect and document deviations (Correct answer)
- Cleaning and maintaining measurement equipment
- Replacing worn instrument components
Correct answer: The process of comparing a measuring instrument against a known reference standard to detect and document deviations
Calibration compares an instrument's output against a traceable reference standard to determine its accuracy and document any deviations.
Question 2: 'Metrological traceability' means:
- Recording every measurement made with an instrument
- An unbroken chain of calibrations linking a measurement back to national or international measurement standards (Correct answer)
- Storing calibration records in a database
- Using the same instrument for all measurements in a lab
Correct answer: An unbroken chain of calibrations linking a measurement back to national or international measurement standards
Metrological traceability establishes a documented, unbroken chain of calibrations from the instrument through reference standards up to national or international standards such as NIST.
Question 3: 'Measurement uncertainty' in calibration represents:
- The probability that an instrument will fail
- A quantified expression of doubt about the measurement result, accounting for all identified sources of error (Correct answer)
- The difference between the highest and lowest readings
- The calibration interval of the instrument
Correct answer: A quantified expression of doubt about the measurement result, accounting for all identified sources of error
Measurement uncertainty is a parameter that characterizes the range of values within which the true value is estimated to lie, considering all significant error sources.
Question 4: What is 'accuracy' in measurement?
- How closely repeated measurements agree with each other
- How closely a measurement result agrees with the true or accepted reference value (Correct answer)
- The smallest change in input that produces a detectable output change
- The range between the maximum and minimum calibrated values
Correct answer: How closely a measurement result agrees with the true or accepted reference value
Accuracy describes how close a measurement is to the true or accepted reference value, distinguishing it from precision which is about repeatability.
Question 5: What is 'precision' in the context of measurement systems?
- The closeness of a measurement to the true value
- The degree of agreement among repeated independent measurements under the same conditions (Correct answer)
- The ratio of measurement uncertainty to the true value
- The range of values over which an instrument operates
Correct answer: The degree of agreement among repeated independent measurements under the same conditions
Precision refers to the repeatability or reproducibility of measurements — how consistently an instrument gives the same result under unchanged conditions.
Question 6: A 'calibration interval' is defined as:
- The time required to perform one calibration
- The specified period between successive calibrations of an instrument (Correct answer)
- The acceptable tolerance range for a measurement
- The number of calibrations performed per year
Correct answer: The specified period between successive calibrations of an instrument
The calibration interval is the scheduled time period between calibrations, set to ensure an instrument remains within acceptable limits throughout its use.
ASQ ASQ Certified Calibration Technician (CCT) 1
What is 'calibration' in a measurement context?