Quality

The British Standard Institution (1979) and the ISO 8402 (ISO 1986) define quality as “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.”

Plato stated “the quality of something is measured by its ability of reaching its goal”

Here we define quality is as fitness for function.

ISO 9000 notices that “Most organizations produce a product or service intending to satisfy a user's needs or requirements. Such requirements are often incorporated in "specifications". However, technical specifications may not in themselves guarantee that a customer's requirements will be consistently met. For example, there may be deficiencies in the specifications or in the organizational system to design and produce the product or service. Consequently, this has led to the development of quality system standards and guidelines that complement relevant product or service requirements given in the technical specification”.

In the production of knowledge for the function of informing the societal and policy debates on sustainability issues, quality control is of key importance when decisions need be made under inadequate certainty.