Measurement across the sciences : developing a shared concept system for measurement / Luca Mari, Mark Wilson and Andrew Maul.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mari, Luca, author.

Wilson, Mark, 1954 August 23- author.

Maul, Andrew, author.

Series:

Springer series in measurement science and technology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Metrology.

Science--Methodology.

Science.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2021].

System Details:

text file

Summary:

This book proposes a conceptual framework for understanding measurement across a broad range of scientific fields and areas of application, such as physics, engineering, education, and psychology. The authors, who themselves span these disciplines, argue that the justification of the public trust attributed to measurement results can in principle apply identically to both physical and psychosocial properties. They further argue that the lack of a common conceptualization of measurement hampers interdisciplinary communication and limits the ability to share knowledge. They advance their views by first surveying the conceptual history of the philosophy of measurement and arguing that classical, operationalist and representational perspectives on measurement each make important contributions but also each have important shortcomings. A synthesis is then offered as the foundation for a new conceptual framework. The authors describe how the framework, which operates as a shared concept system, supports understanding measurements work in different domains, using examples in the physical and human sciences. They consider connections and consequences with respect to causality, objectivity, and intersubjectivity, among other topics, and how measurement science concepts and issues are construed across these disciplines and settings. They also address contemporary issues and controversies within measurement in the light of the framework, including operationalism, definitional uncertainty, and the relations between measurement and computation. The book concludes with a justification for the basic claim that measurement is an empirical and informational process that produces explicitly justifiable information. Researchers and academics across a wide range of disciplines including biological, physical, social and behavioral scientists, as well as specialists in measurement and philosophy will appreciate the works fresh and provocative approach to the field at a time when sound measurements of complex scientific systems are increasingly essential to solving critical global problems.

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Educational Assessment and Educational Measurement

Opening the Black Box in Educational Measurement

Conclusion

Preface

For whom did we write this book

The structure of the chapters in this book

Acknowledgments

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Why we wrote this book

1.1.1 Is measurement necessarily physical?

1.2 Some familiar and not-so-familiar contexts for measurement

1.2.1 A brief introduction to temperature and its measurement

1.2.2 A brief introduction to reading comprehension ability and its measurement

1.2.3 An initial view of psychosocial measurement from a physical science perspective

1.3 The path we will travel in this book

References

Chapter 2: Fundamental concepts in measurement

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The abstract structure of measurement

2.2.1 Measurement as an empirical process

2.2.2 Measurement as a designed process

2.2.3 Measurement as a process whose input is a property of an object

2.2.4 Measurement as a property evaluation

2.3 Between the empirical world and the information world

Chapter 3: Technical and cultural contexts for measurement systems

3.1 Introduction

3.2 The quality of measurement and its results

3.2.1 A sketch of the framework

3.2.2 The Error Approach (or True Value Approach)

3.2.3 The Uncertainty Approach

3.2.4 Basic components of measurement uncertainty

3.2.5 Measurement uncertainty and measurement results

3.3 The operational context

3.3.1 The metrological system

3.3.2 The measurement environment

3.4 The conceptual context

3.4.1 Measurement and property identification

3.4.2 Measurement and measure

Chapter 4: Philosophical perspectives on measurement

4.1 Introduction

4.1.1 Measurement between objectivity and subjectivity

4.2 Characterizing measurement

4.2.1 Naïve realist perspectives on measurement

4.2.2 Operationalist perspectives on measurement

4.2.3 Representationalist perspectives on measurement

4.3 The concept of validity in psychosocial measurement

4.3.1 Early perspectives on validity

4.3.2 Construct validity

4.3.3 An argument-based approach to validity

4.3.4 Causal perspectives on validity

4.4 An interpretive framework

4.4.1 Exploring perspectives on measurement

4.4.2 Towards a different perspective?

4.5 A preliminary synthesis: model-dependent realism

Chapter 5: What is measured?

5.1 Introduction

5.1.1 The meaning of the Basic Evaluation Equation

5.1.2 A pragmatic introduction to the problem

5.1.3 Anticipating the main outcomes

5.2 Some clarifications about properties

5.2.1 Properties of objects as entities of the world

5.2.2 Properties and predicates

5.2.3 Properties and relations

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Vendor-supplied metadata.

Other Format:

Print version: Mari, Luca Measurement Across the Sciences

ISBN:

9783030655587

303065558X

OCLC:

1245590960

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.