Many optical fiber sensors designed to recover quasi-static strain fields in the presence of significant temperature changes have been reported in recent years. A general theoretical analysis of the influence of systematic errors associated with the measurement process is presented and applied to a range of techniques that are of current interest in the literature. The performances of measurement methods based on Bragg grating sensors, polarization-maintaining Fabry–Pe´ rot interferometers, combined dual-mode interference/polarimetry sensors, and dispersive Fourier transform spectroscopy measurements are contrasted with respect to the influence of measurement error, calibration error, cross talk, and engineering practicality.