Book Review: Making Measures
by Ben Wright and Mark Stone

Published by Phaneron Press (2004), available from Amazon.com - ISBN: 1930847394

This is a relatively short (127 pages) book that attempts to add to the recent literature of readable descriptions of the Rasch model. Using examples refined from years of explanation experience, Ben and Mark produce excellent discussions in short form for objective measurement, conjunction, and item calibration.

Unfortunately, the book has a bit of the Jekyll-and-Hyde syndrome. Between pages 15 and 51, it jumps with minimal explanation into Newton's Laws, principal components analysis, and Winsteps output. The book also has a bit of the Biblical Q syndrome as the reader changes style from Wright to Stone to Stenner. The lack of connectivity (pun intended) is apparent.

Regardless, there are many times that we hear, "So what is the Rasch model? Can you give me a real example?" This inexpensive paperback is a wonderful introduction for those occasions. You could drop off a copy and walk away confident the reader would know much more than they did when they asked the questions.

We could also see this as a supplement to a traditional beginning measurement course for consumers (educators, psychologists, etc.) who want to know a little about the Rasch process, but don"t have an extensive background. Fortunately, the examples are mainstream and the references are classic. The historical citations from Peirce, Guttman, Piaget, and Bernoulli are intriguing and worth reading. Each chapter is short and there are plenty of figures, so the total reading time is minimal. Unfortunately, there are also chapters without references (6 and 7) which leave the reader unsatisfied if they cannot understand a technical illustration or concept.

To us, the best thing about Making Measures is the refined way that complex concepts and definitions are explained from the perspective of experience and understanding. There are wonderful insights over and over in the book: "The straighter the line [Figure 6], the fewer the distortions and the closer the data points to the line, the more uniform the conjoint relation between items and person" (p. 38). Another: "The ruler does not exist until we imagine it and carve it [from the tree]." (p. 83). The analysis of the thresholds of the Fear Survey Schedule is a perfect illustration of the strength of Rasch for rating scale development. Stenner's history of the development of Lexiles should be required reading for all educators who want to measure learned constructs.

The weakest thing is the lack of direction for those who want to learn more. A few pages in the last chapter that would guide one to methods like Facets or authors like Bond, Fox, Linacre, Smith and Andrich are badly needed. Also, there is no mention of IOMW or the Rasch Measurement SIG (AERA). Again, that would be useful for anyone who thought it of interest to read the book.

Steve Lang and Judy Wilkerson
University of South Florida

Book Review: Making Measures by Ben Wright and Mark Stone, Lang S., Wilkerson J. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 2004, 17:4 p.949

Rasch-Related Resources: Rasch Measurement YouTube Channel
Rasch Measurement Transactions & Rasch Measurement research papers - free	An Introduction to the Rasch Model with Examples in R (eRm, etc.), Debelak, Strobl, Zeigenfuse	Rasch Measurement Theory Analysis in R, Wind, Hua	Applying the Rasch Model in Social Sciences Using R, Lamprianou	El modelo métrico de Rasch: Fundamentación, implementación e interpretación de la medida en ciencias sociales (Spanish Edition), Manuel González-Montesinos M.
Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar	Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch	Rasch Models for Measurement, David Andrich	Constructing Measures, Mark Wilson	Best Test Design - free, Wright & Stone Rating Scale Analysis - free, Wright & Masters
Virtual Standard Setting: Setting Cut Scores, Charalambos Kollias	Diseño de Mejores Pruebas - free, Spanish Best Test Design	A Course in Rasch Measurement Theory, Andrich, Marais	Rasch Models in Health, Christensen, Kreiner, Mesba	Multivariate and Mixture Distribution Rasch Models, von Davier, Carstensen
Rasch Books and Publications: Winsteps and Facets
Applying the Rasch Model (Winsteps, Facets) 4th Ed., Bond, Yan, Heene	Advances in Rasch Analyses in the Human Sciences (Winsteps, Facets) 1st Ed., Boone, Staver	Advances in Applications of Rasch Measurement in Science Education, X. Liu & W. J. Boone	Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences (Winsteps) Boone, Staver, Yale	Appliquer le modèle de Rasch: Défis et pistes de solution (Winsteps) E. Dionne, S. Béland
Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets), Thomas Eckes	Rasch Models for Solving Measurement Problems (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Jue Wang	Statistical Analyses for Language Testers (Facets), Rita Green	Invariant Measurement with Raters and Rating Scales: Rasch Models for Rater-Mediated Assessments (Facets), George Engelhard, Jr. & Stefanie Wind	Aplicação do Modelo de Rasch (Português), de Bond, Trevor G., Fox, Christine M
Exploring Rating Scale Functioning for Survey Research (R, Facets), Stefanie Wind	Rasch Measurement: Applications, Khine	Winsteps Tutorials - free Facets Tutorials - free	Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (Facets) - free, J.M. Linacre	Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment (Winsteps, Facets), McNamara, Knoch, Fan

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