E valuation of I nterlaboratory G eochemical D ata : S ome C onsiderations on the A bbey ‐R ousseau D ebate, the M eaningfulness of the M edian and O ther T opics

This paper discusses the methods most commonly used to evaluate interlaboratory geochemical data for a search of “best” values. It suggests that the Select‐Laboratories, Dybczyński, median and mode methods integrated by the visual inspection of the plot of the ordered data can be regarded as general, complementary approaches to data handling. Because of the elusive nature of the problem, a multiple method approach to be accepted and standardized by the geoscientist community is suggested. The importance of ascribing realistic confidence intervals to any derived value is also pointed out.