The place where an observer is located is known as a reference point.
Before proceeding to determine the meaning of the term reference point , it is necessary to discover the etymological origin of the two main words that give it shape:
-Point derives from Latin, from “punctum”. This term can be translated as “sting” or “prick.”
-Reference, in the same way, also emanates from Latin and is the result of the sum of several components of said language: the prefix “re-” (repetition), the verb “ferre” (to carry) and the suffix “-encia” ( quality). In this way, its resulting meaning is “explanatory note”.
Point is a notion with multiple uses. It can be an orthographic sign, a unit of something, a circle or even a specific place. Reference , for its part, is that information that indicates something or that allows establishing a link between one thing and another.
What is a reference point
The idea of a reference point is associated with the space that an observer occupies within a certain context. In a system , it is possible to be in different positions: the reference point is the perspective from a position X.
The notion has applications in physics and other sciences, although it can also be understood colloquially. Suppose a car accident occurs at the intersection of two streets. A witness, located twenty meters from the place where the impact occurred, can narrate what he saw from his point of reference and contribute to defining responsibility for the crash. Another witness, who was forty meters from the site, will have a different reference point and possibly tell other details that the first person may not have noticed due to their location.
That which serves to indicate a position can be mentioned as a reference point.
A fixed position or space
A reference point is also an indication that allows knowing a position . If we take a plane that does not mark the cardinal points, for example, we will not know which is north or which is south. Without a reference point, thus, the plane has no value.
Another way of understanding the reference point is associating it with the fixed space from which a movement or trajectory can be observed and described. This reference point can be marked on a coordinate axis for plotting a displacement.
Reference point in sociology, communication and music
Within the scope of Sociology, the use of the term reference point is also used. Specifically, in that case, it is used to define, for example, the context in which a given survey is carried out. In this way, from then on, your results can be compared with those obtained by other surveys based on the same battery of questions, but framed in another reference point.
In the visual and communicative field, reference points are also used. In this case it refers to specific places and moments that are indicated in an audiovisual file to introduce texts, links to a web page...
In the field of music, we can establish that there are several songs that use the term we are analyzing in their lyrics or titles. A clear example of this is the song by Cuban artist Gloria Estefan: “Point of Reference”, which is about a story of unrequited love.