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The Statistics of Low-Level Counting Using the New Generation of Packard Liquid Scintillation Counters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G. T. Cook ,
E. M. Scott ,
E. M. Wright  and
Robert Anderson
G. T. Cook
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride G75 0QU Scotland
E. M. Scott
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QW Scotland
E. M. Wright
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QW Scotland
Robert Anderson
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, East Kilbride G75 0QU Scotland
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Abstract

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We consider the suitability of commonly used Poisson counting statistics applied to background count rates measured in the new generation of low-background Packard liquid scintillation spectrometers. We also investigate the stability of these systems over long time intervals. Undetected instability will result in an underestimation of the precision of any result (i.e., the calculated error will be too small), and, in the presence of a systematic source, could lead to inaccurate results. The work described here forms only a small part of a project to investigate the statistical criteria that should be applied to the performance of such counters. The procedures to be discussed here include the Poisson index of dispersion, x and s control charts and the MSSD test for detection of drift. These are illustrated on background count rates derived from the Packard 2260XL and 2000CA/LL.

Type
I. Sample Preparation and Measurement Techniques
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 14th International Radiocarbon Conference , 1992 , pp. 360 - 365
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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