Measurement Theory and Practice: The World Through Quantification - Hardcover

Hand, David J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470685670 ISBN 13: 9780470685679

Publisher: Wiley, 2010

Synopsis

We live in a world of measurements. Measurements, be they of length, speed, weight, temperature, intelligence, income, endurance, greed, gross domestic product, quality of life, unemployment or skill at a job, are all numerical manifestations of the extent of some underlying attribute. They reflect the reality around us €“ length and weight provide examples of systems that represent clear physical attributes. At the same time, measurements also define the reality around us €“ psychometric tests and price inflation constitute both the definitions and the procedures for measuring these concepts. Altogether, measurements are central to our modern world and our view of it. This book explores the nature of measurement, investigating its different kinds, how these kinds should be interpreted, and the legitimacy of their statistical manipulation. The procedures through which numbers are assigned to objects are described, and measurement in psychology, medicine, the physical sciences,

About this title

About the Author:

David John Hand OBE FBA is a British statistician. His research interests include multivariate statistics, classification methods, pattern recognition, the computational statistics and the foundations of statistics.

Review:

The book is clearly the culmination of many years' work, and it deserves to be very widely read. -- Pulication of the International Statistical Instit 20050501 This I found thought-provoking and perhaps, slightly unorthodox examination of measurement over a wide spectrum. Psychologists of very different persuasions should find a lot to interest and stimulate. -- The Psychologist Volume 18 Nos 3 20050301 This book ought to be on every statistician's shelves and on those ofmany other scientists as well. The author concludes that "measurement is what distinguishes the civilized from the uncivilized". He is to be congratulated for this stimulating contribution to civilizing his fellow scientists. -- Nature Volume 434 20050303 Hand has produced a very useful book on the theory and practice of measurement from different disciplines including psychology. -- Qualitative Research in Psychology 2005 20050901

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0470685670
• ISBN 13: 9780470685679
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 332