extended · article · 2011

The role of mathematical models in measurement: a perspective from psychometrics

Mark Wilson

The paper uses the functional concept of a measuring system, as developed by Mari [1], to explicate the logic of several measurement approaches used in psychometrics, and thus enable a comparison with measurement approaches used by other fields such as engineering and physics.This characterization contrasts with the stereotype of measurement in the social and behavioral sciences, which is seen (from without) as typically following the representational viewpoint.The paper surveys Guttman Scaling, Classical Test Theory, Rasch Scaling and Construct Modeling, as examples of measurement approaches in the area of psychometrics, and explicates the underlying standard reference set that is one of the essential features of Mari's formalization, and shows how these differ among the four approaches.The importance of these differences, and the consequences for measurement using those approaches are ...