Roger Wood (analytical chemist)

Roger Wood is an analytical chemistry researcher whose work concerns the reliability and comparability of laboratory results. The 1999 recovery-information report identifies him with the MAFF Food Science Laboratory in Norwich and lists him among its five authors.^[ref]

The report addresses a practical difficulty: two laboratories can obtain different answers from the same material if one applies a recovery correction and the other reports the recovered amount. It develops a framework for estimating, applying and reporting recovery information rather than treating a percentage as a context-free property of a method.^[ref]

Roger Wood also supported the launch of the RSC Analytical Methods Committee's Technical Brief series while chairing that committee. The RSC's own account credits Michael Thompson as the instigator and Roger Wood as a strong supporter; the first brief appeared in 2000.^[ref]

An original numerical illustration shows why laboratory agreement needs interpretation. If one laboratory recovers $8\mathrm{mg}$ from material containing $10\mathrm{mg}$ and reports 8, while another applies an appropriate recovery estimate 0.8 and reports 10, their discrepancy can arise from reporting conventions without a difference in recovered amount. Conversely, laboratories sharing an unsuitable correction can agree and remain biased. Interlaboratory comparison and clear reporting answer complementary questions about a measurement system.