Page 19 - The Importance of Common Metrics for Advacing Social Science Theory and Research

The Importance of Common Metrics for Advancing Social Science Theory and Research: A Workshop Summary
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13034.html

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Measurement in the Social Sciences

In his overview, George Bohrnstedt (American Institutes for Research)
provided a short history and review of measurement in the social sciences.
He began by introducing measurement in the physical sciences and then
discussed measurement approaches in the social sciences, touching in par-
ticular on seminal developments that have facilitated or impeded progress.
He also introduced the topic of index construction, observing that indica-
tors often turn out to be determinants of the construct rather than just
reflecting it.

MEASUREMENT STANDARDIZATION
IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Bohrnstedt made three observations about measurement standardiza-
tion in the physical sciences:

1. Measures are social constructs, and the process of gaining stan-
dardization around measures is very much a social process involv-
ing social actors and negotiations, like any science or any political
process.
2. Standardization is impelled along when there are strong commer-
cial, political, or scientific forces at work.
3. Science has a strong, central role to play in the development of
standards. An example of the adoption of standards as a social
process can be seen in the way political and commercial interests
worked against adoption in the United States of the metric system,

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