Benefits of good measurement:

1. gives us predictive power
2. allows us to transcend our subjectivity
3. provides a credible tool for identifying error
4. standardization in a sense enables social justice
5. increases our confidence in the value or truth of the information provided
6. enables fine gradations

Problems with poor measurement:

1.      leads to wrong or misleading predictions

2.      gives the user a false sense of objectivity

3.      miss key error and key errors

4.      can contribute to injustice when judgments are made about people

5.      false sense of confidence in the value or truth of the information

6.      assumed differences where none exist

Uses of words:

1. Univocal—one meaning
2. Equivocal—multiple meanings
3. Analogous—a word can refer to “similar” but distinct meanings (e.g., a rich poem, and a rich woman).

Definitions:

1. A dictionary definition
2. An essential definition
3. An operational definition (specifying what must be evident—observed, measured, evaluated—for the “thing in question” to be …). Problem is: these are really “indicators” at best. There is no warrant for assuming the construct is fully captured or even essentially captured by a set of indicators. We measure proxies for the concept. Thus some might measure information processing speed as a proxy for intelligence. Others might measure vocabulary. Others could measure …MI.