On the other hand, in order to determine the previously described intensities IL and IH (IL1 and IH1) of diffraction peaks for the composite oxide, the powder X-ray diffraction results measured under the above conditions without processing, i.e., raw data is used. The peak top, i.e., the maximum intensity of a strongest diffraction peak appearing within the range of 17°≤2θ≤18.5° is defined as IL. On the other hand, the peak top; i.e., the maximum intensity of a strongest diffraction peak appearing within the range of 18.5°<2θ≤19.5° is defined as IH. An intensity ratio IL/IH can be calculated by dividing the intensity numerical value (counts per second: cps) of the intensity IL by the intensity numerical value (cps) of the intensity IH.
When the active material to be measured is contained in the electrode material of the nonaqueous electrolyte battery, first, the electrode is taken out from the nonaqueous electrolyte battery according to the previously described procedure. The taken-out and washed electrode is cut to the size almost equal to the area of the holder of a powder X-ray diffractometer, and used as the measurement sample.