Abstract. In the analysis of the results of an international comparison it is not exceptional that one or even several values are not in line with the others. It is often difficult to find good reasons—empirical or even statistical—for rejecting these data that may strongly influence the reference value. The median has been recognized as useful for the analysis of comparisons in the field of radioactivity as it avoids the need to cope with outliers. In this paper, the median is used as the key comparison reference value (KCRV) and the formulae necessary to evaluate its uncertainty and that of the degree of equivalence are given. In addition, the weighted median is also defined for use as the KCRV. Equivalent formulae are deduced for this estimator. This paper thus enlarges the range of concepts published previously for KCRV estimators.

Print publication: Issue 4 (August 2006)
Received 15 November 2005
Published 4 August 2006