Criterion 101

The term criterion has its origin in a Greek word that means “to judge”. The criterion is the judgment or discernment of a person.

For example: “In my opinion, the referee should have penalized the goalkeeper”, “The artistic criteria of these controversial works is questioned by many people”.

People may have different views on the same topic.

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The criterion and the subjective

The criterion, therefore, is a kind of subjective condition that allows a choice to be made. Ultimately, it is about what supports a value judgment.

The same situation can be understood in different ways according to the criteria. If a mother slaps her son when he disobeys her, some people will agree and others will condemn the action. According to the criteria of the first group, the slap is a punishment that serves as a lesson and improves the child’s behavior. Those who are not in favor, on the other hand, will have a different criterion, believing that physical punishment is never positive.

A requirement

A criterion is also a requirement that must be respected in order to achieve a certain goal or satisfy a need.

In this sense, that is, starting from this meaning, we find a great variety of important criteria. Thus, for example, we could cite what is known as stability criteria. We can establish that they refer to the set of rules or laws that a boat must strictly comply with in order to achieve the necessary security that prevents it from capsizing. Among those, the criteria of dynamics, balance amplitude or metacentric height stand out.

In a work or study meeting, it is common for different criteria to appear.

Criterion in physics and telecommunications

On the other hand, we also find a series of important criteria in the field of physics. Among them we would highlight the so-called Rayleigh criterion or the Lawson criterion that refer to spectral lines and energy production through fusion, respectively.

Another important criterion is, for example, the one developed in the field of telecommunications and which is called the Nyquist criterion. In the year 1928 was when it was established for the first time and the person in charge of undertaking this work was the Swedish Harry Nyquist. Specifically, that aforementioned theorem we can establish that it deals with the sampling actions.

The notion in mathematics and language

In addition to the sectors mentioned, there are also various important and weighty criteria in other areas of the scientific field. Thus, for example, in the field of mathematics there is the Cauchy condensation criterion, the Leibniz criterion or the sandwich criterion. On the other hand, in statistics there is also another equally relevant one such as the Chauvenet criterion.

The textuality criteria indicate the rules that must be met to consider that a set of sentences constitutes a text. These criteria are acceptability, cohesion, coherence, informativeness, intentionality, intertextuality and situationality. This means that if several sentences or paragraphs appear in the same context and meet these criteria, the content can be considered as a text. Otherwise, they may be isolated words or phrases that make no sense as a unit.