Psychometrics and its discontents: an historical perspective on the discourse of the measurement tradition
Psychometrics has recently undergone extensive criticism within the medical education literature. The use of quantitative measurement using psychometric instruments such as response scales is thought to emphasize a narrow range of relevant learner skills and competencies. Recent reviews and commenta...
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Published in | Advances in health sciences education : theory and practice Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 719 - 729 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Dordrecht
Springer Netherlands
01.08.2016
Springer Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Psychometrics has recently undergone extensive criticism within the medical education literature. The use of quantitative measurement using psychometric instruments such as response scales is thought to emphasize a narrow range of relevant learner skills and competencies. Recent reviews and commentaries suggest that a paradigm shift might be presently underway. We argue for caution, in that the psychometrics approach and the quantitative account of competencies that it reflects is based on a rich discussion regarding measurement and scaling that led to the establishment of this paradigm. Rather than reflecting a homogeneous discipline focused on core competencies devoid of consideration of context, the psychometric community has a history of discourse and debate within the field, with an acknowledgement that the techniques and instruments developed within psychometrics are heuristics that must be used pragmatically. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1382-4996 1573-1677 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10459-015-9623-z |