How are sound waves primarily measured in scientific studies?

Sound waves are primarily measured using a decibel meter, which quantifies sound intensity in decibels (dB). This is crucial because sound intensity corresponds to what we perceive as loudness, and the decibel scale helps to compare sound levels relatively.

An oscilloscope is used for visualizing sound waves by displaying the waveform of the sound signal, which can be helpful for analyzing properties like amplitude and frequency, but it doesn’t provide a direct measure of the sound's intensity in a form that is easily interpretable concerning human hearing.

A loudness meter and a frequency counter serve specific functions related to sound, but they are not the primary method for measuring sound waves in a general sense. Loudness meters focus on assessing how loud a sound is, whereas frequency counters measure the frequency of sound waves, not their intensity.

In essence, for scientific studies dealing with sound waves, a decibel meter is the standard tool used to measure the intensity and, by extension, how humans perceive the sound.