Survey Instruments

Anonymous, Metering Pump Survey, Instruments and Control Systems, April 1971, p. 103. 

As drilling technology moved the pursuit of hydrocarbon resources into higher-cost offshore and hostile environments, intentionally deviated boreholes required information such as azimuth and inclination that could not be derived by surface instruments. Survey instruments, either lowered on a sand line or dropped into the drill pipe for later retrieval, to some degree satisfied the requirements but consumed expensive rig time and sometimes produced questionable results. 

Directional drilling contractor A service company that supplies the special deflecting tools, BHA, survey instruments and a technical representative to perform the directional drilling aspects of the operation. 

Mechanical orienting tool A device to orient deflecting tools without the use of subsurface surveying instruments. 

The principle reference electrodes used in the onshore and offshore industries have remained unchanged. The CU/CUSO4 cell is used almost exclusively onshore in the form based on the plastic tube and porous wooden plug illustrated in Fig. 10.40, although certain potential survey instruments have... 

There are two common approaches for measuring americium in the environment. Americium can either be measured directly in the field (in situ) using portable survey instruments or samples can be procured from the field and returned to the laboratory for quantification of americium. 

One of the limitations of the portable field survey instruments in the measurement of americium is that their quantitative accuracy depends on how well the lateral and vertical distribution of americium in the soil compares with the calibration parameters used. These methods can provide a rapid assessment of americium levels on or below surfaces in a particular environment however, laboratory-based analyses of samples procured from these environmental surfaces must be performed in order to ensure accurate quantification of americium (and other radionuclides). This is due, in part, to the strong self absorption of the 59.5 keV gamma-ray by environmental media, such as soil. Consequently, the uncertainty in the depth distribution of americium and the density of the environmental media may contribute to a >30% error in the field survey measurements. Currently, refinements in calibration strategies are being developed to improve both the precision and accuracy (10%) of gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements of americium within contaminated soils (Fong and Alvarez 1997). 

NRC. 1998b. Minimum detectable concentrations with typical radiation survey instruments for various contaminants and field conditions. Washington, DC Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG/CR-1507. 

Piltingsrud HV, Farr RL. 1978. A beta-alpha-gamma x-radiation (bag-x) detection probe for use with a plutonium-americium survey instrument. Health Phys 34 177-184. 

Evaluation of dietary therapy with diet diaries and recall survey instruments allows information about diet to be collected in a systematic fashion and may improve patient adherence to dietary recommendations. 

Survey instruments used in UI research along with quantitating the use of ancillary supplies (e.g., pads) can be used in clinical monitoring. 

Telesurveys Research Associates of Houston conducted the public opinion survey. Rosie Zamora, Dick Jaffe, and Barry Petree demonstrated patience and good cheer through the numerous revisions of the survey instrument. Dr. Eun-Sul Lee of the University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health and Dr. Sharon P. Cooper, now at the Texas A M University School of Rural Public Health, were the statistical consultants on the survey. 

The survey instrument, drafted by the principal investigator and the survey contractor, went through 15 drafts and three rounds of peer review at the NIH. The instrument was pretested in 20 interviews for length (under 15 minutes) and clarity. The instrument was translated and back-translated by separate translators into Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean. The instrument received approval from the Human Studies Committee at the University of Louisville. All interviewees gave oral consent at the beginning of the interview. 

Prozac, 259 Pseudomonas, 142 Psychiatric drugs, 177 Public attitudes, 3-26 Public attitudes survey key findings of, 7-25 methodology for, 5-7 questions for, 7 sample size for, 6 sampling frame for, 6 survey instrument for, 6 telephone interviews for, 6 Public databases, 36, 39 Public education, increase in, 26 Public health genetics, 138 Public health genetics in, 150 protecting, 108, 217... 

Demonstrating use of radiation survey instruments and instruments for screening chemical agents... 

Calibration of Survey Instruments Used in Radiation Protec-... 

SC 46-4 Calibration of Survey Instrumentation SC 46-5 Maintaining Radiation Protection Records SC 46-6 Radiation Protection for Medical and Allied Health Personnel SC 46-7 Emergency Planning... 

The committee recommends the inclusion of a detailed and accurate exposure analysis for a subset of the biomonitored population in large-scale biomonitoring studies that includes analyses of environmental media in the residence and uses a survey instrument to obtain information on diet, consumer product use, occupational exposures, and other factors relevant to the chemical exposure pathways that are being examined. The exposure assessment can be patterned on protocols used in other exposure analyses, such as the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS), the Minnesota Children s Pesticide Exposure Study, and Children s Total Exposure to Pesticides and Other Persistent Organic Pollutants. 

Calibration of Survey Instruments Used in Radiation Protection for the Assessment of Ionizing Radiation Fields and Radioactive Surface Contamination (1991)... 

An arrangement was made with Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to attempt to interview the 891 men who had not responded (20 of the nonrespondents were not identified in time to be included in the survey). The survey instrument used is shown in Exhibit E of Appendix E. 

Most of the problems associated with the questionnaire were due to a lack of explicit hypotheses as to potential long-term effects of the drugs studied. Questions of general interest were included, but specific hypotheses were not assessed with questions. Furthermore, the survey instrument was a questionnaire, not an interview. The questions therefore had to be simple, easily understood, and able to be answered quickly. Such constraints limit the specificity and detail of the information to be collected. 

Two types of methods are commonly used for measurement of uranium in environmental samples. The first are field surveys using portable survey instruments, and the second is analysis of samples procured in the field that are returned to the laboratory for quantification. 

Several limitations are associated with the measurement of uranium by portable survey instruments. 

First, the uranium must be present on the surface of the material being surveyed. Since uranium decays by emission of a particles, which travel only short distances in materials, any uranium that is imbedded in the surface being surveyed will be partially or completely masked. Secondly, when performing surveys, it must be possible to place the detector very close to the surface being surveyed (i.e., approximately one-quarter of an inch) (DOE 1988, 1994), and uneven surfaces that are unintentionally touched can tear the detector window, disabling the instrument. Additional information is available in MARSSIM (1997) on the use and usefulness of field survey instruments. 

NCRP. 1991. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Calibration of survey instruments used in radiation protection for the assessment of ionizing radiation fields and radioactive surface contamination. NCRP Report No. 112. Bethesda MD. 

The survey instrument consisted of 19 questions divided into four categories ... 

Role delineation. The first step is to define the area in which certification is to be offered. This is done through a process called role delineation or task analysis. An expert panel of individuals in the proposed subject area develops a survey instrument to assess how practitioners working in the area rate the importance, frequency, and criticality of specific activities in that practice. The instrument is then sent to a sample of pharmacists who are practicing in that field. 

The result is a profound change in the how the world "feels," in the "texture of the world." (On "texture" and "feel," see Hacking, 1983 1987, p. 51.) It is a qualitatively different experience to give birth with an array of electronic monitors. It is a qualitatively different experience to teach when student evaluations—"customer satisfaction survey instruments"—are used to evaluate one s teaching. It is a qualitatively different experience to make steel "by the numbers," numbers produced by analytical instrumentation. Push-button instrumental objectivity has changed our world. 

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