Psychological and Social Measurement: The Career and Contributions of Benjamin D. Wright

Mark Wilson · William P. Fisher, Jr.

déc. 2017 · Springer

À propos de cet e-book

In this tribute to Benjamin Wright, former students and colleagues recall the foundational contributions he made to the theory and practice of measurement in a career spanning over five decades. Wright is recognized as the foremost proponent of the psychometric approach of Georg Rasch, a Danish mathematician, whose ideas continue to provoke controversy. Wright’s colleagues and students, and students of their students, are leaders in educational research and practice around the world. This volume relates the extent of Wright’s influence far beyond education and psychology, where his work in measurement began, into health care and the social sciences at large. The editors and contributors—all leading measurement scholars—trace the development of themes in Wright’s work, identifying the roots of today’s formative assessment methods, the integration of quantitative and qualitative data, and the contrast between scientific and statistical methods. These previously unpublished papers reflect on Wright’s lifelong passion for making measurement both more scientific and more meaningful. They recount how Wright’s insight, energy, and gregarious nature led him to produce multiple innovations in computing, estimation methods, model development, fit assessment, and reliability theory, stimulating practical applications in dozens of fields, serving on over 120 dissertation committees, and founding several professional societies. The volume includes three reprinted articles by Wright that provide insights into his early engagement with Rasch’s ideas.

Psychological and Social Measurement will be welcomed by the broad international measurement community of professionals and researchers working in such diverse fields as education, psychology, health sciences, management, and metrology. Scientists working in any field involving measurement science and technology will appreciate an inside look at this seminal figure and a new perspective on the expanding conversation across the sciences about measurement and the communication of meaningful, transparent information.

À propos de l'auteur

Mark Wilson is a professor of Education at UC, Berkeley, and also at the University of Melbourne. He received his PhD degree from the University of Chicago in 1984, working with Ben Wright. His interests focus on measurement and applied statistics, and he has published over 100 refereed articles in those areas, and over 50 invited chapters. In 2011, he was elected president of the Psychometric Society, and, in 2016 President of the US National Council for Measurement in Education (NCME); he is also a Member of the US National Academy of Education, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association, and a National Associate of the US National Research Council. He is Director of the Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research (BEAR) Center. His research interests focus on the development and application of sound approaches for measurement in education and the social sciences, the development of statistical models suitable for measurement contexts, the creation of instruments to measure new constructs, and scholarship on the philosophy of measurement.
William P. Fisher, Jr. received his doctorate from the University of Chicago, where he was mentored by Benjamin D. Wright and supported by a Spencer Foundation Dissertation Research Fellowship. Dr. Fisher is recognized for contributions to measurement theory and practice that span the full range from the philosophical to the applied in fields as diverse as special education, mindfulness practice, clinical chemistry, and survey research. His articles have appeared in journals spanning a similarly wide range of fields, from education and psychology to nursing and occupational therapy to physics and metrology. Dr. Fisher’s entry on metrology and measurement in the 2011 World Standards Day paper competition won third prize, which is notable given the focus on engineering and natural science topics usually emphasized by the competition sponsors, SES, the Society for Standards Professionals, and the US National Institute for Standards and Technology. In efforts toward this same end of fostering more informed dialogue between the natural and social sciences, Fisher began contributing in 2008 to an ongoing conference hosted by the International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO) on the human and social value of measurement. Work in this area ultimately led to an IMEKO Joint Symposium co-hosted by Fisher and Mark Wilson at UC Berkeley in August 2016.