The chapters in this new volume describe original research concerned with both theory and practice in measurement. The material originated in presentations made at a conference that brings together practicing professionals and theoreticians in diverse areas of measurement and related fields. The first group of papers embody the most important aspect of objective measurement - its application to diverse contexts and purposes. The examples included concentrate on two types of situations: performance assessment and criterion-referenced testing. The specific contexts range from writing assessment, to assessment of the professional development of teachers, to high school physics. The second group of papers are focused on an area of great importance in assessment today: the modeling of raters and judges in an assessment context. The volume concludes with papers that explore the domain of theory in measurement, characterized by an innovative approach to model-building. Even though they are categorized as theory papers, most are based on the complicated and interesting problems that arise in quite specific contexts. As such, they represent some of the most original and exciting developments in the field of measurement today ranging from multidimensional measurement to graph theory and clustering techniques. This volume presents original research concerned with the practice of measurement, and the theory of measurement. The words in the title, objective measurement indicate that the chapters are all related to a particular approach to the philosophy and practice of measurement. By objective measurement, we mean that, in a situation where a certain class of stimuli (for example, items) are used to measure certain individuals. The chapters in this book originated in presentations made at the International Objective Measurement Workshop (IOMW) devoted to exploring the interface between theory and practice in measurement. Based on the complicated and interesting problems that arise in quite specific contexts, they represent some of the most original and exciting developments in the field of measurement today.

The purpose of this book is to present methods for developing, evaluating and maintaining rater-mediated assessment systems. Rater-mediated assessments involve ratings that are assigned by raters to persons responding to constructed-response items (e.g., written essays and teacher portfolios) and other types of performance assessments. This book addresses the following topics: (1) introduction to the principles of invariant measurement, (2) application of the principles of invariant measurement to rater-mediated assessments, (3) description of the lens model for rater judgments, (4) integration of principles of invariant measurement with the lens model of cognitive processes of raters, (5) illustration of substantive and psychometric issues related to rater-mediated assessments in terms of validity, reliability, and fairness, and (6) discussion of theoretical and practical issues related to rater-mediated assessment systems. Invariant measurement is fast becoming the dominant paradigm for assessment systems around the world, and this book provides an invaluable resource for graduate students, measurement practitioners, substantive theorists in the human sciences, and other individuals interested in invariant measurement when judgments are obtained with rating scales.

This book introduces current perspectives on Rasch measurement theory with an emphasis on developing Rasch-based scales. Rasch measurement theory represents a paradigm shift in measurement theory away from classical test theory and creates a framework for scaling that can yield invariant measurement. Rasch Models for Solving Measurement Problems: Invariant Measurement in the Social Sciences is a broadly accessible text. Authors George Engelhard Jr and Jue Wang introduce Rasch measurement theory step by step, with chapters on scale construction, evaluation, maintenance, and use. Points are illustrated and techniques are demonstrated through an extended example: The Food Insecurity Experience (FIE) Scale. The Rasch analyses in the book are run using the Facets computer program. Facets syntax, and R code for the ERMA program created by the authors to obtain parameter estimates and to examine model-data fit, together with sample data sets are all available on a website for the book.

The purpose of this book is to present methods for developing, evaluating and maintaining rater-mediated assessment systems. Rater-mediated assessments involve ratings that are assigned by raters to persons responding to constructed-response items (e.g., written essays and teacher portfolios) and other types of performance assessments. This book addresses the following topics: (1) introduction to the principles of invariant measurement, (2) application of the principles of invariant measurement to rater-mediated assessments, (3) description of the lens model for rater judgments, (4) integration of principles of invariant measurement with the lens model of cognitive processes of raters, (5) illustration of substantive and psychometric issues related to rater-mediated assessments in terms of validity, reliability, and fairness, and (6) discussion of theoretical and practical issues related to rater-mediated assessment systems. Invariant measurement is fast becoming the dominant paradigm for assessment systems around the world, and this book provides an invaluable resource for graduate students, measurement practitioners, substantive theorists in the human sciences, and other individuals interested in invariant measurement when judgments are obtained with rating scales.

The chapters in this new volume describe original research concerned with both theory and practice in measurement. The material originated in presentations made at a conference that brings together practicing professionals and theoreticians in diverse areas of measurement and related fields. The first group of papers embody the most important aspect of objective measurement - its application to diverse contexts and purposes. The examples included concentrate on two types of situations: performance assessment and criterion-referenced testing. The specific contexts range from writing assessment, to assessment of the professional development of teachers, to high school physics. The second group of papers are focused on an area of great importance in assessment today: the modeling of raters and judges in an assessment context. The volume concludes with papers that explore the domain of theory in measurement, characterized by an innovative approach to model-building. Even though they are categorized as theory papers, most are based on the complicated and interesting problems that arise in quite specific contexts. As such, they represent some of the most original and exciting developments in the field of measurement today ranging from multidimensional measurement to graph theory and clustering techniques. This volume presents original research concerned with the practice of measurement, and the theory of measurement. The words in the title, objective measurement indicate that the chapters are all related to a particular approach to the philosophy and practice of measurement. By objective measurement, we mean that, in a situation where a certain class of stimuli (for example, items) are used to measure certain individuals. The chapters in this book originated in presentations made at the International Objective Measurement Workshop (IOMW) devoted to exploring the interface between theory and practice in measurement. Based on the complicated and interesting problems that arise in quite specific contexts, they represent some of the most original and exciting developments in the field of measurement today.