triangulation — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A technique in which distances and directions are estimated from an accurately measured baseline and the principles of trigonometry; (countable) an instance of the use of this technique.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   The season of 1835–36 was employed in carrying on the triangulation; in which Colonel [George] Everest was much impeded by a long continuance of hazy and cloudy weather. It appears, however, that the principal triangulation was brought down to the line from Juktipura to Pagara; […]

   Russia began under Catherine II, and has since constantly either taken up at different points or extended the triangulations successively made, with always more perfection of men of science. Now, these triangulations form a fully connected series from north of the arctic circle to south of Dorpat.

   The original base lines, which form the starting points of the survey, require to be measured by apparatus of the most delicate nature, since any error, committed in the early part of this work, will necessarily be multiplied throughout the series of triangulations which rest upon it. […] Nor is less precision necessary in the measurement of the angles of the primary and secondary triangulations, which serve as checks upon each other, since the position of any point in the former is determined by each of these series.

2. The network of triangles so obtained, that are the basis of a chart or map.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   […] I have placed myself in communication with the Astronomer Royal, for the purpose of considering the steps necessary to be taken to effect the connexion required, between the triangulation of Great Britain and that of Belgium. […] I have also placed myself in communication with General Nerenburger, Director of the Dêpot de la Guerre at Brussels, and have received from him the diagram of the Belgian triangulation, with descriptions of the stations with which it is necessary to connect our triangulation, and we possess a copy of the triangulation of France.

3. A delaying move in which the king moves in a triangular path to force the advance of a pawn.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   [page 76] At this point, it may be useful to refer to a word that has been used in connection with earlier examples. The King has been said to indulge in a process called Triangulation. The word is harder than the idea. The basic fact is that the King can move to an adjacent square in one move, two moves or three moves, without returning to its point of origin. […] [page 77] This diagram […] shows a position where the triangulation is vital.

4. A subdivision of a planar object into triangles, and by extension the subdivision of a higher-dimension geometric object into simplices.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Regular triangulations are a class in-between lifting and lexicographic triangulations. Their main draw-back in the context of this paper is that regularity depends on the specific realization and not only on the oriented matroid.

   A triangulation of a point configuration #92;mathbf#123;A#125;#92;in#92;mathbb#123;R#125;ᵈ is a collection of d-simplices all of whose vertices are points in #92;mathbf#123;A#125; that satisfies the following two properties: 1. The union of all these simplices equals conv(#92;mathbf#123;A#125;). (Union Property) 2. Any pair of these simplices intersects in a common face (possibly empty). (Intersection Property)

5. A process by which an unknown location is found using three known distances from known locations.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   A special advantage of radar is that it works during darkness and other periods of low visibility, which prevent visual triangulation and aircraft techniques for measuring nuclear clouds.

6. The practice of repositioning one's group or oneself on the political spectrum in an attempt to capture the centre.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Triangulation was a presidential leadership strategy that presented the president as having borrowed elements of both the right and the left to develop some form of center policy amalgam.

   Increased security for women's health clinics was part of [Bill] Clinton's "third way," a politics of triangulation that moved the Democratic Party closer to the right and embraced neoliberal economic policies while offering comparatively moderate social positions.

7. The use of three (or more) researchers to interview the same people or to evaluate the same evidence to reduce the impact of individual bias.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   One recent attempt to combine both forms of data collection […] was based on a parallel methods approach, in which the results of two similar but separately located studies were triangulated. Triangulation entails overlapping the results at several points to enhance reliability. […] Other documented research has attempted to gain a broader view through the triangulation of two sets of data (quantitative and qualitative) on the same question, taken from the same respondents in a single study.

   Even though triangulation is used in quantitative paradigm for confirmation and generalization of a research, Barbour (1998) does not disregard the notion of triangulation in qualitative paradigm and she states the need to define triangulation from a qualitative research's perspective in each paradigm. For example, in using triangulation of several data sources in quantitative research, any exception may lead to a disconfirmation of the hypothesis where exceptions in qualitative research are dealt to modify the theories and are fruitful.

   Multiple sources of data were used to create a triangulation of evidence: books, documentation, archival records and relevant publications by key actors, particularly in the development field, open ended interviews, participant-observation conducted during field work and a case study. […] Triangulation was initially conceptualized as a strategy to validating results achieved with individual research methods. The focus of this research strategy, however, has increasingly shifted towards enriching and complementing knowledge and towards expanding and furthering the potential of individual methods.

Noun

1. a trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points of a known distance apart; useful in navigation

   Broader terms

   trigonometrytrig

2. a method of surveying; the area is divided into triangles and the length of one side and its angles with the other two are measured, then the lengths of the other sides can be calculated

   Broader terms

   surveying