NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1479092
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Aug
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1935-9772
EISSN: EISSN-1935-9780
Available Date: 2025-06-11
Expanding Worldviews on Psychometric Analysis of Measurement Tools in Health Professions Education and Research
Michelle D. Lazarus1,2; Mahbub Sarkar2; Claire Palermo3; Sze-Ee Soh4,5; Melanie K. Farlie2,4
Anatomical Sciences Education, v18 n8 p838-851 2025
Worldviews influence research--from design to interpretation and reporting. Historically, psychometrics has been predominantly situated within a positivist paradigm, while social research has often aligned with interpretivist or critical paradigms. However, emerging perspectives in the philosophy-of-science are challenging this rigid alignment, inviting a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between worldviews and methodologies in the health professions. This article explores both historical and emerging worldviews related to psychometrics--asking readers to reconsider assumptions and preconceived ideas about which worldview applies to this field of research. Furthermore, this article challenges the psychometrics community to consider how the field can occupy seemingly competing worldviews and approaches, including those that have historically been more commonly associated with qualitative research--such as critical theory (under the broader umbrella of critical inquiry) and reflexivity. Using illustrative case examples applicable to the anatomical sciences and health professions, we discuss the evolution of perspectives on psychometrics and its relationship to worldviews through the lenses of classical test theory and item response theory to the contemporary paradigm of "critical psychometrics".
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Centre of Human Anatomy Education (CHAE), Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Biomedical Discovery Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; 2Monash Centre for Scholarship in Health Education (MCSHE), Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; 3Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia; 4Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia; 5Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independently Living (RAIL) Research Centre, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Frankston, Victoria, Australia