Since...perception only gives information of this external world or of physical reality indirectly, we can only grasp the
latter by speculative means. It follows from this that our notions of physical reality can never be final. We must always
be ready to change these notions...in order to do justice to perceived facts in the most logically perfect way.
Albert Einstein in F.S.C. Northrop (1949) The Meeting of East and West. Macmillan. p. 249.
"People sometimes say, This is right in theory but it doesn't work in practice. They ought to say, This is wrong in theory and consequently it is wrong in practice. There is no true theory which could be wrong in practice. This contrast between theory and practice is contrived by people who want to escape hard and thorough thinking. They like to abide in the shallowness of accustomed practices, on the surface of a so-called experience. They will accept nothing but a repeated confirmation of something they already know or believe. Only those questions for truth which have challenged and disturbed centuries of practice have brought about a fundamental transformation of practice. This is true of the history of science, morals and religion." Paul Tillich, "Doing the Truth", in "The Shaking of the Foundations", 1949.
"There is nothing so practical as a good theory." Kurt Lewin, 1890-1947, quoted in Tom Peters, Liberation Management, Macmillan, 1992, p.153.
"The importance of measurement to social research is well stated in an observation by Hauser (1969, 127-9): I should like to venture the judgment that it is inadequate measurement, more than inadequate concept or hypothesis, that has plagued social researchers and prevented fuller explanations of the variances with which they are confounded.
"But why are the social sciences characterized by inadequate measurement? We would suggest that a
fundamental component of any complete answer must be the popular definition of the term, that provided by Stevens
(1951, 22): Measurement is the assignment of numbers to objects or events according to rules. This
definition implies that measurement is mainly an empirical, almost mechanistic, process. In other words, Stevens'
definition does not refer to the theoretical component of the measurement process. But measurement serves a vital
theoretical purpose, as aptly described by Blalock (1970, 88-89): Measurement considerations often enable us to
clarify our theoretical thinking and to suggest new variables that should be considered. It is often thought, prior to
measurement, that we really understand the nature of a phenomenon because we have experienced it directly. Careful
attention to measurement may force a clarification of one's basic concepts and theories."
From R.A. Zeller & E.G. Carmines (1980) Measurement in the social sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Measurement is much more than better quantification of the known. It is a voyage of discovery into the unknown. The great value of telescopes is not that they enable astronomers to perceive more clearly what they can already observe, but that they enable the investigation of the guessed at, the discovery of the unforeseen:
"The reason we are on a higher imaginative level [in 1963 than in 1923] is not because we have a finer imagination,
but because we have better instruments. In science, the most important thing that has happened in the last forty years
is the advance in instrumental design... A fresh instrument serves the same purpose as foreign travel; it shows things
in unusual combinations. The gain is more than a mere addition; it is a transformation."
Alfred North Whitehead (1963) Science and the Modern World, New York: New American
"Many have decried the separate components that make up America's [college entrance selection] frenzy. Yet few have totaled up the human cost of this nonsense, which encourages young people to equate their self-worth with grades and test scores. Inner-directedness becomes a means, not an end, and failure becomes the ultimate disgrace, rather than a learning experience. Risk-taking and experimentations come to be viewed as errors in sound planning. Worse, service to fellow human beings is reduced to another outside activity to be listed on an application form. Because they cannot be measured, moral and spiritual development count for little."
S. Frederick Starr (1991) Colleges call it application time..., The Open Book, IV, 2, p.4.
SIG elected officers for April 1994 to April 1996 are:
Chair: George Engelhard, Jr.
Secretary/Treasurer: Carol M. Myford
Ballots mailed (Dec. 1993). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Ballots returned (Feb. 16, 1994). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Ballots spoiled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
For Chair:
George Engelhard, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
William P. Fisher, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
For Secretary/Treasurer:
Carol M. Myford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
William Boone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Vote Counters: Kathy Green, Ming Wa and Yap Ak
Quotations and notations. Rasch Measurement Transactions 1994 8:1 p.319ff.
Quotations and notations. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1994, 8:1 p.319ff.
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