Universals were said to exist if superordinate variables can be established that are parallel in several individuals or groups of individuals. In addition, these variables can be shown to exhibit dimensional identity in the sense that their relationships with other latent variables are not conditioned on individuals or membership in groups of…

This study uses the results of two previous papers (Kane, Mroch, Suh, & Ripkey, this issue; Suh, Mroch, Kane, & Ripkey, this issue) and the literature on linear equating to evaluate five linear equating methods along several dimensions, including the plausibility of their assumptions and their levels of bias and root mean squared difference…

In this study, a data base containing the responses of 40,000 candidates to 90 multiple-choice questions was used to mimic data sets for 50-item tests under the "nonequivalent groups with anchor test" (NEAT) design. Using these smaller data sets, we evaluated the performance of five linear equating methods for the NEAT design with five levels of…

This paper analyzes five linear equating models for the "nonequivalent groups with anchor test" (NEAT) design with internal anchors (i.e., the anchor test is part of the full test). The analysis employs a two-dimensional framework. The first dimension contrasts two general approaches to developing the equating relationship. Under a "parameter…

"Diagnostic classification models" (DCM) are frequently promoted by psychometricians as important modelling alternatives for analyzing response data in situations where multivariate classifications of respondents are made on the basis of multiple postulated latent skills. In this review paper, a definitional boundary of the space of DCM is…

One promising application of diagnostic classification models (DCM) is in the area of cognitive diagnostic assessment in education. However, the successful application of DCM in educational testing will likely come with a price--and this price may be in the form of new test development procedures and practices required to yield data that satisfy…

What is the nature of latent predictors that facilitate diagnostic classification? Rupp and Templin (this issue) suggest that these predictors should be multidimensional, categorical variables that can be combined in various ways. Diagnostic Classification Models (DCM) typically use multiple categorical predictors to classify respondents into…

In this commentary, the author asks the analogous question, "where's the psychology?" Not because the authors of the focus article "Unique Characteristics of Diagnostic Classification Models: A Comprehensive Review of the Current State-of-the-Art" have not provided a solid review of the technical aspects of Diagnostic Classification Models (DCM),…

The author comments on an article about psychometrics titled "Latent Variable Theory" by Denny Borsboom and printed elsewhere in this issue. The author states that Borsboom's conclusion that all variables should be considered latent until proven otherwise is sound, and that his basis for conclusion rests on the relation between the variable…

Michael Kane comments on three articles in this issue: (1) "Is Psychometrics Pathological Science?" (Joel Mitchell); (2) "Latent Variable Theory" (Denny Borsboom); and (3) "Constructs, Concepts, and the Worlds of Possibility" (Keith Markus). He states that the common thread in these three articles is the goal of putting measurement practice on a…

Few would argue that psychology has been as successful as the natural sciences in constructing measurement systems, yet this has not tempered the near universal claim of psychological measurement. As Haig and Denny Borsboom note, the sustained nature of conceptual attacks from a small group of quantitative psychologists suggests a deep-seated…

The clue to what latent variable models are, and to a workable account of the basis for the traditional manifest/latent variable distinction, lies in a reconsideration of the indeterminacy property of linear factor structures. In this article, the authors contend that latent variable models are not detectors of unobservable latent structures,…

The author discusses structural weakness of the psychometric paradigm, citing that psychometricians claim to be able to measure psychological attributes, presuming these attributes to be quantitative. The author contends, however, that evidence does not support the quantitative view, rendering such claims premature. This article is based upon…

The commentary has greatly enriched the discussion initiated by the three target articles. The distinction between constructs and concepts contributes to both the top-down and bottom-up aspects of the dialectic between measurement theory and practice. The distinction also illuminates the abstraction from observation to manifest variables. However,…

Pathology of science occurs when the normal processes of scientific investigation break down and a hypothesis is accepted as true within the mainstream of a discipline without a serious attempt being made to test it and without any recognition that this is happening. It is argued that this has happened in psychometrics: The hypothesis upon which…