Historical and Conceptual Foundations of Measurement in the Human Sciences
In this new book by Derek Briggs, Director of CADRE and current President of , Briggs explores how and on what basis we have come to use the terminology of measurement in support of inferences about learning and academic achievement.
explores the assessment and measurement of nonphysical attributes that define human beings: abilities, personalities, attitudes, dispositions, and values.
The proposition that human attributes are measurable remains controversial, as do the ideas and innovations of the six historical figures鈥擥ustav Fechner, Francis Galton, Alfred Binet, Charles Spearman, Louis Thurstone, and S. S. Stevens鈥攁t the heart of this book. Across 10 rich, elaborative chapters, readers are introduced to the origins of educational and psychological scaling, mental testing, classical test theory, factor analysis, and diagnostic classification and to controversies spanning the quantity objection, the role of measurement in promoting eugenics, theories of intelligence, the measurement of attitudes, and beyond.
Graduate students, researchers, and professionals in educational measurement and psychometrics will emerge with a deeper appreciation for both the challenges and the affordances of measurement in quantitative research.