Key Cautions

Benefits of good measurement:

predictive power

transcend our subjectivity

tool for identifying error

enable social justice

increases confidence in the value or truth of the information provided

enables fine gradations

Problems with poor measurement:

1. wrong predictions

2. false sense of objectivity

3. miss key error/s

4. fosters injustice

5. false sense of confidence in the information

6. assumed differences where none exist

Theory can influence measurement...

Values can influence measurement...

Subjectivity can influence measurement...

Lies can influence measurement...

Self-deception can influence measurement...

Treating ordinal scales as interval scales can influence measurement...

Measurement changes people... the person measuring, and the relationship between the two...

Source: Bradley, W.J. & Schaefer, K.C. (1998). The uses and misuses of data and models: The mathematization of the human sciences. SAGE Publications