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jmdict 2513740 Active (id: 1158672)
数値化
すうちか
1. [n,vs]
▶ quantification
▶ expressing in numerical form
▶ conversion to numerical form

Conjugations


History:
3. A 2014-06-10 10:59:54  Jim Breen <...address hidden...>
  Comments:
Thanks, Richard. The entry is a bit of a mystery, as it came in outside the submission system running at the time, which means I added it "by hand" and there is no indication of source. references, etc.
2. A* 2014-06-09 22:50:40  Richard Warmington <...address hidden...>
  Refs:
This is a bit long, because I'm arguing against the definitions given in several sources (EDICT, Eij, and Kotobank) and so I need to give evidence.
.
I will start with Kenkyusha's definition, which I *do* agree with:
KOD追加語彙(和英)
すうちか【数値化】
numerical expression 《of information》; representation 《of the result》 in numbers.
~する express 《the result》 「numerically [in numbers]; put 《a problem》 into numbers.
.
KOD doesn't actually use the word "quantify" or "quantification" but that's what they are talking about:
Oxford Advanced Learner's
quantify: "to describe or express sth as an amount or a number"
.
Turning now to the present EDICT definition ...
I don't think it's "numeric conversion" (conversion between integer, floating-point, fixed-point number representations) because I can't find any references that say so, and because it doesn't make sense in terms of the construction of the term 数値 + 化 (= "make something a number", rather than "convert from one numeric representation to another").
.
Examples of the use of the term "mumeric conversion" in English:
http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361H-01/lvhowto/numeric_conversion/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PFgRHvey8U
.
However, it *can* mean conversion from a *non*-numeric data form to a numeric data form (e.g. character to integer). That usage is seen on webpages about Excel:
VALUE関数は、数値化できる文字を数値に変換することができます。
That's why I included the gloss "conversion to numerical form".
.
If "digitization" is "the conversion of data or information from analog to digital or binary" then I don't think that is a correct gloss for 数値化, either. KOD says that 数値化 is about expressing something in numbers, but there is nothing in that definition that specifies digital or binary representation. The number could, in principle, be the computed value of a formula based on analog measurements, for example. 
.
Kotobank's definition is at odds with KOD. They say
数値化 【すうちか】 アナログデータをデジタルデータに変換すること。
http://kotobank.jp/word/数値化
In other words, they say it's simply digitization.
That is clearly a different idea of the word from the KOD definition, and also from the usage noted in Excel webpages.
.
Here's some more evidence:
数値化することの意味は
http://fl-musica.tea-nifty.com/naochi878/2009/12/post-2964.html
This page is clearly about quantification and not digitization.
E.g. The writer says
何かの目標をたてるとき、めざすものを数字で表すと、それはより具体的なものになりますね。
私は、音楽講師なので、
 生徒を増やしたいんだけど~
よりは、
 あと5人プラス!30人の生徒を教えたい。
のほうが、より具体的ですね。
In other words s/he is quantifying his goal as a teacher -- not digitizing it.
(Instead saying "I want more students" [qualitative goal], say "I want five extra students" [quantitative goal -- not "digitized" goal].)
Again: 愛情を数値化して比べられるでしょうか?・・・無理ですよね。
S/he is saying that you can't quantify love, *not* that you can't digitize it.
.
数値化できない2泊3日の教育効果
This is presumably saying that the results can't be quantified, not that they can't be digitized.
.
疲労を数値化できる装置
You can quantify fatigue, but not digitize it.
.
Another source that supports the present EDICT definition is Eij:
数値化 digitalization; digitizing; numerical conversion
Yet *every* example of usage at Eij is about quantification, not digitization!
E.g. 
- その問題に関する主観的な考えの度合いを数値化する
quantify the degree of subjective belief in the question
- 影響を数値化する
quantify the impact
  Diff:
@@ -13,2 +13,3 @@
-<gloss>digitization</gloss>
-<gloss>numeric conversion</gloss>
+<gloss>quantification</gloss>
+<gloss>expressing in numerical form</gloss>
+<gloss>conversion to numerical form</gloss>
1. A 2009-08-24 00:00:00 
  Comments:
Entry created

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