Is Psychometrics Pathological Science?

@article{Michell2008IsPP,
  title={Is Psychometrics Pathological Science?},
  author={Joel Michell},
  journal={Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives},
  year={2008},
  volume={6},
  pages={24 - 7}
}
  • J. Michell
  • Published 29 May 2008
  • Psychology
  • Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives
Pathology of science occurs when the normal processes of scientific investigation break down and a hypothesis is accepted as true within the mainstream of a discipline without a serious attempt being made to test it and without any recognition that this is happening. It is argued that this has happened in psychometrics: The hypothesis upon which it is premised, that psychological attributes are quantitative, is accepted within the mainstream, and not only do psychometricians fail to acknowledge… Expand
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References

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A pathology of science is defined as a two-level breakdown in processes of critical inquiry: first, a hypothesis is accepted without serious attempts being made to test it; and, second, this… Expand
Item Response Models, Pathological Science and the Shape of Error
There is nothing in Borsboom and Mellenbergh’s (2004) response that refutes my thesis that psychometrics is a pathology of science. They seek to defend item response models from my charge of… Expand
Quantitative science and the definition of measurement in psychology
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TLDR
It is shown that item response theory models result from introducing probabilistic relations, which are needed to deal with measurement error, and not from a breakdown in critical inquiry, as Michell suggests. Expand
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TLDR
The psychometricians' fallacy concludes that an attribute is quantitative from the premise that it is ordinal despite the fact that any order on the degrees themselves does not entail sufficient structure on this weak order to guarantee satisfaction of these conditions. Expand
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TLDR
In a paper ignored in psychology for six decades, the issue was resolved mathematically and the resolution implies that the psychometricians' argument was fallacious. Expand
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The quantitative imperative is the view that in science, when you cannot measure, you do not really know what you are talking about, but when you can, you do, and, therefore, qualitative methods have… Expand
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