Re: A Fact, An Empirical Observation, and the Operational Definition

["Bill Scherkenbach" <bill@scherkenbach.com>]

Michael:

Percy W. Bridgman is the person who coined and developed the term
"Operational Definition".  When I spoke to Deming about this, he said that
Shewhart caught flack way back when because some said he stole ideas from
Bridgman.  Shewhart indeed references Bridgman's work "The Logic of Modern
Physics", albeit at the end of his tome and in an obscure place.
We have gone over this before and a search of the archives should find a lot
more info on Operational Definitions.  The best book on them is Bridgman's
"Reflections of a Physicist".

Bill