Tag: measurement

Intervals for individuals

A clear and concise guide to choosing between the standard error of measurement (SEM) interval and the standard error of estimation (SEE) interval – two intervals that are used when interpreting an individual’s score in psychological testing (Schmukle and Rohrer, 2025).

Some areas, such as the personality test industry, would benefit from more often using any kind of interval on their proclamations.

Schmukle, S. C., & Rohrer, J. M. (2025). Clarifying the Choice of Confidence Intervals in Psychological Testing: A Comment on Stanley and Spence (2024). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science.

Measurements presuppose theories

(cited in Gillies’ “Philosophical theories of probability”): 

“Against this view [operationalism] it can be shown that measurements presuppose theories. There is no measurement without a theory and no operation which can be satisfactorily described in non-theoretical terms. The attempts to do so are always circular; for example, the description of the measurement of length needs a (rudimentary) theory of heat and temperature-measurement; but these in turn involve measurements of length.” (Popper, Conjectures and Refutations, 1963)