Measure or Metric? Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other?
Posted by Diane Kulisek on December 7, 2009
Here is another LinkedIn ‘Best Answer’. Anshuman Tiwari, a Change Management and Business Excellence Professional within the Information and Technology Services industry and an active member of the American Society for Quality in India, asked the following LinkedIn Question:
“How would you differentiate between Measure and Metric? Measure and Metric are often used terms in Balanced Scorecard and the Baldrige framework. How would you explain the difference. Do you have any examples?”
Below is the answer I posted, which Anshuman rated as the ‘Best’ answer of six provided by LinkedIn Members:
“The only distinction that I think might be able to be made does not appear to be available in any of the literature I’ve checked. I’m basing this only upon my personal experience.
I would have to say that a measure is usually performed to gather information for later analysis or to assess conformance with a known specification.
Meanwhile, I would say that a metric is a collection of measurements performed consecutively over a period of time (or in relation to some other progressive scale) that reflects ongoing performance toward attainment of a desired goal or ultimate outcome. Some measures, however, may also appear in analysis of priority or importance with regard to attainment of a goal or may influence allocation of resources for ultimate attainment of a goal (such as might be the case for cumulative Pareto analysis or 80-20 Rule determinations).
In a nutshell, then, I would have to say that a measure tends to be tactical and a metric tends to be strategic.
It certainly should be defined somewhere, officially.”
This was not part of my LinkedIn Answer, but below are the Google-derived definitions of ‘measure’:
Related phrases: performance measure unit of measure made to measure common measure tape measure oregon ballot measure 7 measure for measure beyond measure linear measure how to measure a planet
Definitions of measure on the Web:
- any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal; “the situation called for strong measures”; “the police took steps to reduce crime”
- how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify
- bill: a statute in draft before it becomes law; “they held a public hearing on the bill”
- measurement: the act or process of assigning numbers to phenomena according to a rule; “the measurements were carefully done”; “his mental measurings proved remarkably accurate”
- standard: a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated; “the schools comply with federal standards”; “they set the measure for all subsequent work”
- determine the measurements of something or somebody, take measurements of; “Measure the length of the wall”
- meter: (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
- quantify: express as a number or measure or quantity; “Can you quantify your results?”
- musical notation for a repeating pattern of musical beats; “the orchestra omitted the last twelve bars of the song”
- have certain dimensions; “This table surfaces measures 20inches by 36 inches”
- measuring stick: measuring instrument having a sequence of marks at regular intervals; used as a reference in making measurements
- evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of; “I will have the family jewels appraised by a professional”; “access all the factors when taking a risk”
- a container of some standard capacity that is used to obtain fixed amounts of a substance
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Measure is the second album from Matt Pond PA, released in 2000.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_(album) - A jigger or measure is a bartending tool used to measure liquor, which is typically then poured into a cocktail shaker. It is named for the unit of liquid it typically measures, a 1.5 fluid ounce (~44 ml) jigger or shot. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_(bartending)
If we narrow our search for a definition to ‘performance measure’, we’ll find that ‘measure’ and ‘metric’ are terms used interchangeably. There are subsearches provided for strategic performance measures and for tactical performance measures, however. Here are the Google-based ‘performance measure’ definitions:
Related phrases: technical performance measure strategic performance measure tactical performance measure performance measure/indicator
Definitions of performance measure on the Web:
- A quantifiable measure to assess how well the organization carries out specific functions or processes.
nyrxreport.ncqa.org/Glossary.aspx - A characteristic or metric that can be used to assess the performance aspects of a program or project (ie, dollars expended, students enrolled, grade- point average, number of job offers received).
www.ed.gov/fund/grant/about/grantmaking/glossary.html - Ways to objectively measure the degree of success a program has had in achieving its stated objectives, goals, and planned program activities.
www.epa.gov/evaluate/glossary/p-esd.htm - A particular value or characteristic designated to measure input, output, outcome, efficiency, or effectiveness.
www.f5ac.org/mguide/GlossaryFinal.htm - an indicator.
www.ameteam.ca/glossary.html - A performance measure is an integral part of both compacts and strategic plans. A performance measure is a management tool that measures progress and results achieved. Performance measures are the proof of success or failure. …
www.tamus.edu/strategicplan/docs/GLOSSARY.doc - A qualitative or quantitative measure of outcomes, outputs, efficiency, or cost-effectiveness. In general, measures should be related to an organization’s mission and programs, and should not merely measure one-time or short-term activities.
ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/publications/ftat_user_guide/sec5.htm - a statement specifying clearly and precisely a desired output, outcome, or event that is expected to occur: the “what” that is to be measured.
www.scoea.bc.ca/glossary2001.htm - An indicator of an agency’s achievement of desired outcomes. For the past year, most state agencies have tracked three to five measures that relate to the agency’s mission, most critical activities, or largest budgetary items. Institutions of higher education have additional measures. …
dpb.virginia.gov/Budget/00-02/buddoc00/glossary.cfm - A particular value or characteristic used to measure/examine a result or performance criteria; may be expressed in a qualitative or quantitative way.
www.uwex.edu/ces/tobaccoeval/glossary.html - A measurement statement of activity, process or outcome.
www.spotsylvania.va.us/departments/countyadmin/index.cfm - A quantitative or qualitative tool to assess progress towards an outcome or goal.
www.iowadot.gov/railplan/glossary.htm - A yardstick or standard used to measure progress toward achieving a strategic objective or a tactical objective. …
www.blackerbyassoc.com/SPGloss.html - Special quantitative and qualitative measure of work performed as an objective of a department.
www.cityofmacon.net/business/budgetglossary2.htm - an indicator used to evaluate progress towards business goals and objectives usually measured against a target or known standard
www.cecausa.com/business_process_glossary.htm
So, for ‘tactical performance measure’ we have the following Google-based definition:
A yardstick or standard used to measure progress toward achieving a tactical objective; a measure of how well we are doing; an output measure or a …
www.blackerbyassoc.com/SPGloss.html
And, for ‘strategic performance measure’ we have this:
A yardstick or standard used to measure progress toward achieving a strategic objective. a measure of how well we are doing; an outcome measure.
www.blackerbyassoc.com/SPGloss.html
Hmmm….. those look…. suspiciously… like the exact same definition. Let’s see what the Google-based definitions are for ‘metric’:
Related phrases: metric ton metric system metric space metric structure metric conversions metric units metric tonne routing metric euclidean metric
Definitions of metric on the Web:
- metric function: a function of a topological space that gives, for any two points in the space, a value equal to the distance between them
- metric unit: a decimal unit of measurement of the metric system (based on meters and kilograms and seconds); “convert all the measurements to metric units”; “it is easier to work in metric”
- system of measurement: a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic
- measured: the rhythmic arrangement of syllables
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Metric is a Canadian New Wave/indie rock band. Originally formed in 1998 in New York City, they are currently based in Toronto, Ontario, Montreal …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_(band) - In differential geometry, the notion of a metric tensor can be extended to an arbitrary vector bundle. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_(vector_bundle) - In general relativity, the metric tensor (or simply, the metric) is the fundamental object of study. It may loosely be thought of as a generalization of the gravitational field familiar from Newtonian gravitation. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_(general_relativity) - A metric is a standard unit of measure, such as meter or mile for length, or gram or ton for weight, or more generally, part of a system of parameters, or systems of measurement, or a set of ways of quantitatively and periodically measuring, assessing, controlling or selecting a person, process …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_(unit) - A measure for something; a means of deriving a quantitative measurement or approximation for otherwise qualitative phenomena (esp. …
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/metric - metrics – prosody: the study of poetic meter and the art of versification
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Metrics is a property of a route in computer networking, consisting of any value used by routing algorithms to determine whether one route should perform better than another (the route with the lowest metric is the preferred route). …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrics_(networking) - Measurable element of a service, process or function. The real value of metrics is seen in their change over time. Reliance on a single metric is not advised, especially if it has the potential to affect User behaviour in an undesirable way.
www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/knowledgebase/itservices/a-z/m.html - A standard of measurement. Software metrics are the statistics describing the structure or content of a program. A metric should be a real objective measurement of something such as number of bugs per lines of code.
www.software-testing-outsourcing.com/glossary.html - A general term describing a measurable value available from a particular system or service (see also Counters). The metrics that are available depend on the monitor type and configuration of the system. …
mon15ny450.doubleclick.net/SiteScope/docs/SiteScopeTerms.htm - A standard for measurement.
www.icaa.cc/member_wellnessworkgroups/benchmarks_workgroup/Benchmarks%20Definitions%20Worksheet.doc
Defining the word ‘metric’ seems to use the term ‘measure’, a lot. I dunno. What do YOU think the differences are between a metric and a measure?
While you’re pondering that, feel free to download copies of my presentation handout about Quality Metrics and Dashboards from the CAPAtrak Website or enjoy the free downloadable Simple Dashboard and Balanced Scorecard Templates.
CAPAtrak Blog 
Chris Loosley said
I think your research revealed the answer, but you did not recognize it. First you proved that your original idea (tactical vs. strategic) was not correct — you obtained identical definitions in which ‘Metric’ was not associated with ‘strategic’.
Next you obtained a lot of definitions for ‘performance measure’ and ‘metric,’ but didn’t notice that the phrase ‘particular value’ appears only in the former, while ‘standard of measurement’ appears only in the latter. Yes, there’s a lot of noise in those definitions, but there is also a clear pattern: a measure is a measurement instance, a metric is a class of measurements.
The 1995 article Measure, Metric, or Indicator: What’s the Difference? by Bryce Ragland has this distinction exactly right. He gives an example of a patient in a hospital bed. Body temperature is a metric, 103 degrees is a measure, and degrees above/below normal is an indicator.
That is consistent with common usage, and with many of the Web definitions you cited, if you look at them closely. Granted they are confusing, but that’s the problem with trying to produce a precise definition by summarizing Web content. There’s a lot of muddled thinking out there.
–Chris
Diane Kulisek said
Hi Chris,
You make a great point about the distinction between a ‘measure’ and a ‘metric’ which takes the explanation of possible differences a step further. I can see how it would be helpful to treat all measures as points within a continuum of variable measures (linear variables). I can also see how it would be helpful to treat all metrics as attributes in relation to acceptance or rejection criteria. Unfortunately, measures are sometimes made of grouped attributes and acceptance or rejection criteria are not always applied to metrics.
Perhaps we need some new definitions.
Diane
Bryce Ragland said
Diane, No new definitions are required. People just need to stop interchanging the use of the terms and recognize that there is a distinction between a measure, a metric, and an indicator.
Jac said
There is a clear definition of a metric, it must meet these properties.
A metric on a set X is a function (called the distance function or simply distance)
d : X × X → R
(where R is the set of real numbers). For all x, y, z in X, this function is required to satisfy the following conditions:
1.d(x, y) ≥ 0 (non-negativity, or separation axiom)
2.d(x, y) = 0 if and only if x = y (identity of indiscernibles, or coincidence axiom)
3.d(x, y) = d(y, x) (symmetry)
4.d(x, z) ≤ d(x, y) + d(y, z) (subadditivity / triangle inequality).
A measure does not have to meet these. A measure is simply a way of determining magnitude of something.