Winsteps
Friday, March 31, 2006
Imparting the Measurement Myth
Peggy Noonan points out the importance of myths in developing patriotism. If new immigrants to a country are not indoctrinated into the myths, they are always outsiders. Do recent immigrants into France accept the French secular myth of "Liberté, Fraternité, Equalité"? Or recent immigrants into the USA accept the self-sacrificing myth of "Give me liberty or give me death?"
Rasch measurement also has its mythic base. One myth is "Structured randomness is a fundamental aspect of the Universe" for without structured randomness measurement is impossible. Another myth is "The Universe can be understood in terms of an infinite number of unidimensional variables." Thus whenever a novel or unmeasurable situation arises, we are motivated by our myths to strive to measure it, until at last we succeed ... even if that task seems at first to be a labor of Sysiphus - another myth.
Rasch measurement also has its mythic base. One myth is "Structured randomness is a fundamental aspect of the Universe" for without structured randomness measurement is impossible. Another myth is "The Universe can be understood in terms of an infinite number of unidimensional variables." Thus whenever a novel or unmeasurable situation arises, we are motivated by our myths to strive to measure it, until at last we succeed ... even if that task seems at first to be a labor of Sysiphus - another myth.
