1/27ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZQuirkyQualityDictionaryAAcademicQualityImprovementProject(AQIP):Aforumforinstitutionstorevieweachother'sactionprojects.Acceptablequalitylevel(AQL):Inacontinuingseriesoflots,aqualitylevelthat,forthepurposeofsamplinginspection,isthelimitofsatisfactoryprocessaverage.Acceptancenumber:Themaximumnumberofdefectsordefectivesallowableinasamplinglotforthelottobeacceptable.Acceptancesampling:Inspectionofasamplefromalottodecidewhethertoacceptthatlot.Therearetwotypes:attributessamplingandvariablessampling.Inattributessampling,thepresenceorabsenceofacharacteristicisnotedineachoftheunitsinspected.Invariablessampling,thenumericalmagnitudeofacharacteristicismeasuredandrecordedforeachinspectedunit;thisinvolvesreferencetoacontinuousscaleofsomekind.Acceptancesamplingplan:Aspecificplanthatindicatesthesamplingsizesandassociatedacceptanceornonacceptancecriteriatobeused.Inattributessampling,forexample,therearesingle,double,multiple,sequential,chainandskip-lotsamplingplans.Invariablessampling,therearesingle,doubleandsequentialsamplingplans.(Fordetaileddescriptionsoftheseplans,seethestandardANSI/ISO/ASQA3534-2,Statistics—VocabularyandSymbols—StatisticalQualityControl.)Accreditation:Certificationbyadulyrecognizedbodyofthefacilities,capability,objectivity,competenceandintegrityofanagency,service,oroperationalgrouporindividualtoprovidethespecificserviceoroperationneeded.Accuracy:Thecharacteristicofameasurementthattellshowcloseanobservedvalueistoatruevalue.Actionplan:Aspecificmethodorprocesstoachievetheresultscalledforbyoneormoreobjectives.Maybeasimplerversionofaprojectplan.Activitynetworkdiagram:Anarrowdiagramusedinplanningandmanagingprocessesandprojects.AdvancedProductQualityPlanning(APQP):SegmentofQS-9000processthatusestoolstooffertheopportunitytogetaheadofproblemsandsolvethembeforetheproblemsaffectthecustomer.Affinitydiagram:Amanagementtoolusedtoorganizeinformation(usuallygatheredduringabrainstormingactivity).Alignment:Theactionstakentoensureaprocessoractivitysupportstheorganization'sstrategy,goalsandobjectives.AmericanAssociationforLaboratoryAccreditation(A2LA):Anorganizationthatformallyrecognizesanotherorganization'scompetencytoperformspecifictests,typesoftestsorcalibrations.AmericanCustomerSatisfactionIndex(ACSI):ReleasedforthefirsttimeinOctober1994,aneconomicindicatorandcrossindustrymeasureofthesatisfactionofU.S.householdcustomerswiththequalityofthegoodsandservicesavailabletothem—boththosegoodsandservicesproducedwithintheUnitedStatesandthoseprovidedasimportsfromforeignfirmsthathavesubstantialmarketsharesordollarsales.TheACSIisco-sponsoredbytheUniversityofMichiganBusinessSchool,ASQandtheCFIGroup.AmericanNationalStandardsInstitute(ANSI):ANSIisaprivate,nonprofitorganizationthatadministersandcoordinatestheU.S.voluntarystandardizationandconformityassessmentsystem.ItistheUnitedStates'memberbodyintheInternationalOrganizationforStandardization,knownasISO.AmericanSocietyforNondestructiveTesting(ASNT):Theworld'slargesttechnicalsocietyfornondestructivetesting(NDT)professionals.AmericanSocietyforQuality(ASQ):Aprofessional,not-for-profitassociationthatdevelops,promotesandappliesqualityrelatedinformationandtechnologyfortheprivatesector,governmentandacademia.TheSocietyservesmorethan108,000individualsand1,100corporatemembersintheUnitedStatesand108othercountries.AmericanSocietyforQualityControl(ASQC):NameoftheSocietyfrom1946throughthemiddleof1997;thenchangedtoASQ.AmericanSocietyforTestingandMaterials(ASTM):Not-for-profitorganizationthatprovidesaforumforthedevelopmentandpublicationofvoluntaryconsensusstandardsformaterials,products,systemsandservices.2/27AmericanSocietyforTrainingandDevelopment(ASTD):Amembershiporganizationprovidingmaterials,educationandsupportrelatedtoworkplacelearningandperformance.Americanstandardcodeforinformationinterchange(ASCII):BasiccomputercharactersacceptedbyallAmericanmachinesandmanyforeignones.Analysisofmeans(ANOM):Astatisticalprocedurefortroubleshootingindustrialprocessesandanalyzingtheresultsofexperimentaldesignswithfactorsatfixedlevels.Itprovidesagraphicaldisplayofdata.EllisR.Ottdevelopedtheprocedurein1967becauseheobservedthatnonstatisticianshaddifficultyunderstandinganalysisofvariance.Analysisofmeansiseasierforqualitypractitionerstousebecauseitisanextensionofthecontrolchart.In1973,EdwardG.Schillingfurtherextendedtheconcept,enablinganalysisofmeanstobeusedwithnon-normaldistributionsandattributesdatawherethenormalapproximationtothebinomialdistributiondoesnotapply.Thisisreferredtoasanalysisofmeansfortreatmenteffects.Analysisofvariance(ANOVA):Abasicstatisticaltechniqueforanalyzingexperimentaldata.Itsubdividesthetotalvariationofadatasetintomeaningfulcomponentpartsassociatedwithspecificsourcesofvariationinordertotestahypothesisontheparametersofthemodelortoestimatevariancecomponents.Therearethreemodels:fixed,randomandmixed.Appraisalcost:Thecostinvolvedinensuringanorganizationiscontinuallystrivingtoconformtocustomers'qualityrequirements.Arrowdiagram:Aplanningtooltodiagramasequenceofeventsoracti