Measurement: UIC Professor and Program Director emphasizes the importance of developing the skills necessary to assess data quality

Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to objects (typically persons) according to specified rules. Accurate measurements are crucial for conducting experiments, analyzing data, and drawing reliable and valid conclusions.

The UIC online Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment (MESA) programs offers measurement courses to prepare students with the skills necessary to quantify and compare various attributes to help make informed decisions, track progress, and achieve meaningful outcomes. UIC Professor and Program Director Dr. Everett Smith dives further into the subject of measurement in his course, EPSY 550: Rating Scale and Questionnaire Design and Analysis. Students receive a fundamental understanding of questionnaire development as well as how to analyze and summarize the results of their own rating scale data.

Dr. Smith specializes in psychometrics, specifically Rasch measurement, and his expertise includes test and rating scale design and analysis for the measurement of latent constructs and testing model robustness. Learn more about the EPSY 550 course and the importance of measurement in a MESA students’ educational journey.

What skills will students learn in the EPSY 550: Rating Scale and Questionnaire Design and Analysis course?

There are two primary sets of skills that students will develop in EPSY 550. The first is they will learn how to design self-report rating scales intended to measure a latent construct. Second, they will learn to apply Rasch models to help assess reliability of the data and gather evidence to support (or possibly refute) the validity of inferences being drawn from the data.

Can you explain why it’s important for students to learn the skills necessary to develop rating scales?

Rating scales are a primary means to collect self-reported data in a wide array of organizational settings, such as in education, behavioral, healthcare, and more. Understanding how to design effective rating scales yields better data quality for eventual statistical analysis. The examples used in the course will be drawn primarily from the fields of education, psychology and physical rehabilitation.

Students will learn about Rasch measurement in your EPSY 550 course. Can you explain the Rasch model and how students will use this knowledge in real life?

The Rasch model is a psychometric model for analyzing ordered categorical data and can be used to solve a variety of measurement problems. For example, Rasch models can be used for locating a student on the latent continuum, such as their math ability, investigating examiner/rater consistency, standard setting, equating, and differential item functioning to name just a few of these applications.

In EPSY 550, we use Rasch models to assess the reliability and validity for person and item responses, evaluate the functioning of a rating scale, assess dimensionality and local independence, and differential item functioning. The Rasch model empowers students with a powerful tool for evaluating the quality of their data, making them more effective researchers and practitioners in their respective fields.

How can students apply their measurement skills from EPSY 550 to a future job role?

The design of quality self-report scales is used across educational, behavioral, social, medical, and other healthcare settings. In educational contexts, they can, for example, aid in assessing students’ cognitive and social emotional responses to learning materials. In behavioral research, these scales can facilitate the measurement of psychological constructs like personality traits and interpersonal relationships. Within healthcare settings, self-report scales are important for gauging patients’ experiences, pain levels, mental well-being, quality of life, and response to treatments, helping provide healthcare providers data useful to personalize effective care.

How does measurement fit into the overall MESA program, and why is it important for students to be introduced to the concepts and methods of measurement?

Measurement is the process of assigning numbers to objects according to specified rules for latent traits such as achievement, interest, attitudes, quality of life, and more. Students learning about measurement and how to assess data quality, such as the reliability of data and validity of interferences drawn from data, complements other MESA courses that teach how to analyze or evaluate such data. Prior to any meaningful analysis or evaluation of data, effective measurement is a crucial component of a MESA student’s knowledge because it lays the foundation for accurate interpretation and understanding of the results from statistical analyses and program evaluations.