In this article, Austin Pickup centers Foucault's concept of "problematization" as an important methodological tool for displacing neoliberalism from its stable perch atop a perceived absence of other possibilities. According to Pickup, the genealogical analysis envisaged and practiced by Foucault opens up new avenues by indicating not…

In this commentary on "Rethinking Traditional Methods of Survey Validation," found in this issue of "Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives," William Fisher writes that Maul's paper raises issues of validity in survey-based measurement that deserve far wider consideration and scrutiny than they typically…

In the article "Rethinking Traditional Methods of Survey Validation" Andrew Maul describes a minimalist validation methodology for survey instruments, which he suggests is widely used in some areas of psychology and then critiques this methodology empirically and conceptually. He provides a reduction ad absurdum argument by showing that…

In his focus article, "Rethinking Traditional Methods of Survey Validation," published in this issue of "Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives," Andrew Maul introduces and discusses several foundational issues and concludes that self-report measures may be particularly difficult to validate and may fall short…

In Andrew Maul's focus paper "Rethinking Traditional Methods of Survey Validation'" published in this issue of "Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives," Maul contends that self-report measures may be particularly difficult to validate. He cautions that such techniques may fall short of providing the kinds of…

To help evaluation professionals better understand what an authentic attempt at Developmental Evaluation (DE) ought to look like and when it is appropriate to use, Michael Patton's provocative essay (this issue) offers evaluators eight sensitizing concepts to call on as guides. Patton states these concepts succinctly define DE and persuasively…

Maul's paper, "Rethinking Traditional Methods of Survey Validation," is a clever and pointed indictment of a set of specific but widespread practices in psychological measurement and the social sciences at large. Through it, Maul highlights central issues in the way to approach theory building and theory testing, bringing to mind the…

This article is a reflection upon the ethical dimension of my work and practice as an embedded researcher during my doctorate. To begin with, I describe my experiences of gaining ethical approval from The University of Manchester while also highlighting some of the concerns that were raised by the ethics board. This leads me to recognise how the…

In this article, E. Matthew Schulz responds to Adam Wyse's article, "Construct Maps as a Foundation for Standard Setting." In doing so, he asserts that one of the most important ideas in Wyse's work is that information used in standard setting needs to be better represented through the use of graphics. However, he's not…

The authors appreciate Professor Slotta's responding to their critique (Slotta, this issue). For their part, they believe that Professor Slotta has misinterpreted aspects of their position. In this commentary, the authors clarify two particular points. First, they explain their use of "static ontologies," which they maintain applies. Second, they…

The authors of this article comment on "Construct Maps as a Foundation for Standard Setting," by Adam E. Wyse (this issue) in which Wyse presents construct maps, a visual display of a variety of sources of evidence that support standard-setting decisions, and shows how this approach could be used with a variety of existing…

Schooler's (2011) commentary of our meta-analysis (Fox, Ericsson, & Best, 2011), although thoughtful and generally complimentary, misclassifies the think-aloud method as a form of introspection. Although he praised the scientific rigor of the think-aloud method, Schooler criticized its limitations as a mode of capturing the full range of conscious…

Depth of knowledge is a common measure of rigor used extensively at the state level to align assessments with state content standards. However, the use of depth of knowledge at the classroom level is just beginning. In this article, we establish a link between depth of knowledge and the questioning strategies teachers should consider employing…

Born in Cumberland, Maryland, Nancy Sansom Reynolds earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1982. Reynolds' reputation as a sculptor has steadily grown over the years, and today her artwork is included in many private and public collections and has been displayed in the United States, Asia,…

In "Updating the Duplex Design for Test-Based Accountability in the Twenty-First Century," Bejar and Graf (2010) propose extensions to the duplex design for large-scale assessment presented in Bock and Mislevy (1988). Examining the range of people who use assessment results--from students, teachers, administrators, curriculum designers,…