Summarising the precision statistics from collaborative trials

Abstract

A collaborative trial (an interlaboratory study) is reputed to be the most reliable way of validating an analytical procedure applied to a defined class of test material. The most important outcome of a trial is the collection of reproducibility standard deviations estimated at various mass fractions of the analyte. These standard deviations are good estimates of standard uncertainties to be expected when the procedure is used in proficient laboratories. However, collaborative trials are expensive to conduct, as much as ₤50k–100k per trial, depending on the number of test materials under study and the number of laboratories involved. As an outcome, the popularity of trials is declining while the need for information from them is escalating.