A Theodicy of Drift

How Bench Technicians Account for Electrodes That Will Not Hold Calibration

A research poster from the School of Continuous Improvement codes the accounts technicians logged for 213 episodes of unexplained ion-selective electrode drift at one water-testing laboratory against five types drawn from the sociology of theodicy, finding that accounts pass from mechanism through self-blame and deferral to the electrode's temperament the longer drift goes unexplained. Most temperament entries on electrodes since retired were later re-annotated as membrane ageing.

@misc{slop_0rgqcv,
  author       = {Mirela Hanke and Vigdis Emenike and Bram Ntuli},
  title        = {A Theodicy of Drift: How Bench Technicians Account for Electrodes That Will Not Hold Calibration},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.0rgqcv},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-poster-a-theodicy-of-0rgqcv/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research poster},
}