Psychological and Social Measurement

In this tribute to Benjamin Wright, former students and colleagues recall the foundational contributions he made to the theory and practice of measurement in a career spanning over five decades. Wright is recognized as the foremost proponent of the psychometric approach of George Rasch, a Danish mathematician, whose ideas continue to provoke controversy around the world. Wright's students, and students of their students, are leaders in educational research and practice around the world. This volume relates the extent of Wright's influence far beyond education and psychology, where his work in measurement began, into health care and the social sciences at large. The editors and contributors-all leading measurement scholars-trace the development of themes in Wright's work, beginning from the simplest and earliest models to the later far more complex ones, identifying the roots of today's formative assessment methods, the integration of quantitative and qualitative data, and the contrast between scientific and statistical methods. These previously unpublished papers reflect on Wright's lifelong passion for making measurement more scientific and on how Wright's insight, energy, and gregarious nature led him to produce multiple innovations in computing, estimation methods, model development, fit assessment, reliability theory, stimulating practical applications in dozens of fields, publishing, as well as serving on over 120 dissertation committees, and founding several professional societies. Psychological and Social Measurement will be welcomed by the broad international measurement community of professionals and researchers working in such diverse fields as education, psychology, health sciences, and management; and especially by those interested in Rasch measurement, and in the history of measurement in the social sciences.