Psychometrics: An Introduction

From a perspective that focuses on the meaning, purpose, and implications of key psychometric concepts, principles, and procedures, this text introduces the subject and study of psychometrics. It addresses these topics at a level that is deeper and more focused than what is found in typical introductory undergraduate testing and measurement texts, but is much more intuitive than what is traditionally found in the more technical publications intended for advanced graduate courses. By emphasizing concepts over mathematical proofs and by focusing on practical significance, this book assists students in appreciating not just how measurement problems can be addressed, but why it is crucial to address them.

Michael Furr is Professor of Psychology and Wright Faculty Fellow at Wake Forest University, where he teaches and conducts research in personality psychology, psychological measurement, and quantitative methods. He earned a BA from the College of William and Mary, an MS from Villanova University, and a PhD from the University of California at Riverside. He is an editor of the “Statistical Developments and Applications” section of the Journal of Personality Assessment, a former associate editor of the Journal of Research in Personality, a former executive editor of the Journal of Social Psychology, and a consulting editor for several other scholarly journals. He received Wake Forest University’s 2012 Award for Excellence in Research, and he won the Society for Personality Assessment’s 2017 Bruno Klopfer Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Literature in Personality Assessment,. He is a fellow of Divisions 5 (Quantitative and Qualitative Methods) and 8 (Social and Personality Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and a fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Verne R. Bacharach is professor of psychology at Appalachian State University. He has held faculty appointments at the University of Alabama, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and Acadia University in Nova Scotia and has chaired the departments at Appalachian State and Acadia. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, tests and measurements, and research methods for nearly 40 years. He has a long journal publication history of research and review articles. Dr. Bacharach obtained a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Kansas in 1971.