On the Nature of Measurement | CU Experts

Overview

Abstract; This chapter engages with the question of how educational measurement can be understood with respect to measurement more broadly. Historical developments are traced to explain how the concepts and terminology of measurement came to be invoked in educational and psychological contexts. A framework is introduced for understanding measurement with respect to four central components—theory, instrumentation, scales and units, and modeling—and the framework is illustrated briefly in a physical science context and then more extensively in an educational context. Challenges are examined in relation to the meaning of validity, evolving conceptualizations of measurement error and uncertainty, and the role of measuring scales and units in the evaluation of magnitudes.