Philosophical and Foundational Issues in Measurement Theory / Edition 1

by C. Wade Savage, Philip Ehrlich

Overview

Measurement theory has only recently become recognized as a legitimate, specialized field of inquiry. This text covers a wide range of issues of central concern to contemporary measurement theorists, and a broad range of philosophical perspectives are represented. The formalist, representationalist approach defines measurement as the assignment of numbers to entities and events to represent their properties and relations. It also states that measurement theory is supposed to analyze the concept of a scale of measurement, describe various types of scales and their uses, and formulate the conditions required for the existence of scales of various types. Since this approach dominates contemporary measurement theory, the volume begins with essays by some of its leading architects. In order to allow for diverse points of view, the book also includes articles that attempt to broaden this approach, and several that even criticize the approach.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805807264
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/01/1991
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1470L (what's this?)

About the Author

Savage, C. Wade; Ehrlich, Philip

Table of Contents

Contents: C.W. Savage, P. Ehrlich, A Brief Introduction to Measurement and to Essays. R.D. Luce, L. Narens, Intrinsic Archimedeanness and the Continuum. P. Suppes, M. Zanotti, Qualitative Axioms for Random-Variable Representation of Extensive Quantities. E.W. Adams, On the Empirical Status of Measurement Axioms: The Case of Subjective Probability. H.E. Kyburg Jr., Measuring Errors of Measurement. W. Balzer, The Structuralist View of Measurement: An Extension of Received Measurement Theories. J.P. Burgess, Synthetic Physics and Nominalist Realism. A. Koslow, Quantitative But Nonnumerical Relations in Sciene: Eudoxus, Newton, and Maxwell. B. Ellis, Conventionalism in Measurement Theory. K. Berka, Are There Objective Grounds for Measurement Procedures? Z. Domotor, Measurement from Empiricist and Realist Points of View.

Editorial Reviews

"Most mathematicians and statisticians should find something of interest in this collection, and...it will be a valuable source of references for those whose research interests include the logical foundations of probability. The essays could also be a useful source of material for class discussions, at a post-graduate level. This volume would be a welcome addition to any mathematical library."
—The Statistician

"...a very useful overview of the history, the chapters, and the issues involved....For those with a solid background in symbolic logic, mathematical theorems, and the philosophy of science, this book should provide a good glimpse of the direction and the nature of the contemporary debate regarding the numerical scaling of objects."
—Contemporary Psychology

From the Publisher