QUALITY ASSURANCE AND THE INTERPRETATION OF INTERNATIONAL MARINE MONITORING DATA - THE POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION OF INTERNATIONAL LABORATORY PERFORMANCE STUDIES

Groups charged with the interpretation of international marine monitor ing data have historically found it necessary to employ arbitrary crit eria for the inclusion of field data in their assessments, based upon disparate and incomplete quality assurance information. It is anticipa ted that moves to require QA information to be directly associated wit h field data in international databanks, to establish quantified progr amme objectives and designs with appropriate statistical power, and th e firm establishment of international laboratory performance studies ( such as the QUASIMEME programme) will improve both the information ava ilable to assessment groups and the reliability of their conclusions. Crown Copyright (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.