Discussion
Started 14th Sep, 2021

What is the field of psychometrics! What do you think are the best universities in the world in this field?

Psychometrics is a field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement. As defined by the US National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), psychometrics refers to psychological measurement. Generally, it refers to the specialist fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and related activities.
The field is concerned with the objective measurement of skills and knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, clinical constructs and mental disorders as well as educational achievement. Some psychometric researchers focus on the construction and validation of assessment instruments such as questionnaires, tests, raters' judgments, psychological symptom scales, and personality tests. Others focus on research relating to measurement theory (e.g., item response theory; intraclass correlation).
Practitioners are described as psychometricians. Psychometricians usually possess a specific qualification, and most are psychologists with advanced graduate training in test interpretation, psychometrics, and measurement theory. In addition to traditional academic institutions, many psychometricians work for the government or in human resources departments. Others specialize as learning and development professionals.
Thank you for your comment on my question.

Most recent answer

Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
Thanks you, dear and very respected Dra. Maryam Moghadasin.
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Popular replies (1)

Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
-I-
Psychometry is the area within Psychology that studies and analyzes the theory and construction of valid and reliable tests, tests and other measurement procedures (that is, with a psychometric structure). It includes the development and application of statistical procedures that make it possible to determine whether a test or test is valid or not for the measurement of a previously defined psychological variable or behavior.
The contents of psychometry are divided, fundamentally, into two large blocks: theory of tests, which refers to the construction, validation and application of tests, and scaling, which includes the methods for the elaboration of psychophysical and psychological scales.
The key concepts of classical test theory are: reliability and validity. A test is "reliable" if it is always measured in the same way, that is, if the application of the instrument gives stable and consistent measurements, while it is "valid" if it actually measures the attribute that it intends to measure.
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All replies (11)

Stephen Joy
Albertus Magnus College
Clearly you already know how to define psychometrics, so I'll limit myself to links that may help you to identify strong graduate programs. I don't think there are any systematic comparisons within this specialized field, but the following may be of some help. I noticed that several "dot com" sites offer lists of "best" programs but with no information as to how they ascertained program quality; frankly I think most such sites are little better than scams. Peterson's is okay, though.
1 Recommendation
Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
-I-
Psychometry is the area within Psychology that studies and analyzes the theory and construction of valid and reliable tests, tests and other measurement procedures (that is, with a psychometric structure). It includes the development and application of statistical procedures that make it possible to determine whether a test or test is valid or not for the measurement of a previously defined psychological variable or behavior.
The contents of psychometry are divided, fundamentally, into two large blocks: theory of tests, which refers to the construction, validation and application of tests, and scaling, which includes the methods for the elaboration of psychophysical and psychological scales.
The key concepts of classical test theory are: reliability and validity. A test is "reliable" if it is always measured in the same way, that is, if the application of the instrument gives stable and consistent measurements, while it is "valid" if it actually measures the attribute that it intends to measure.
11 Recommendations
Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
-II-
The best Universities for the Area of Psychometry (and also for Psychology in general) are:
1. Harvard University; 2. Cambridge University; 3. Stanford University; 4. Oxford University; 5. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); 6. Yale University; 7. University of California Berkeley (UCB); 8.University of Michigan; 9. University College London; 10. Princeton University
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Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
-and III-
The best Spanish Universities for the Area of Psychometry (also for Psychology in general) are:
Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM)
Complutense University of Madrid (UCM)
University of Barcelona (UB)
Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
University of Granada (UGR)
University of Valencia (UV)
University of Santiago de Compostela (USC)
University of Seville (US)
University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU)
University of Zaragoza (UniZar)
11 Recommendations
M. Kamraju
Osmania University
Stanford University,Oxford University,Harvard University, Cambridge University, University of California
8 Recommendations
Stephen Joy
Albertus Magnus College
Please note: Messrs. Javier Gala and Kamraju list a number of very strong universities. He does not cite any source for the claim that they are strong in psychometrics. In fact, as far as I can tell many of them do not operate graduate programs in psychometrics or closely related fields (tests & measures, educational measurement, etc.). So wonderful as Harvard or Yale may be, and excellent as their psychology departments surely are, they are useless for this questioner.
The APA link I provided earlier is fairly comprehensive. The other one provides a (somewhat subjective) list of quality programs in psychometrics and related fields. Top schools include the U. of Minnesota, U. of Iowa, U. of Massachusetts, U. of Wisconsin, U. of Kansas, U. of Nebraska, U. of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Boston College.
1 Recommendation
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan
The Red-Green Research Centre
Harvard University
2 Recommendations
Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
Dear and respected Dr. Stephen Joy ; I never answer - unless the question affects opinions - without knowing the facts; For this reason, the relationship that I have dared to add, to this thread, is not mine, but that of the Collegiate Organization of Psychology in Spain -therefore there is also a relationship of Spanish Universities-: Thus things, all relationships of this type It is debatable and yours, despite being magnificent and I congratulate you, does not stop being so too, for that reason I would ask you to respect other opinions - I repeat that the one expressed by me IS NOT MINE! -. Repeating my sincere thanks. Thank you!
10 Recommendations
Maryam Moghadasin
Kharazmi University
Dear all,
Thank you very much for your valuable comments, dear ones.
Special thanks to Dr.Javier Gala and Dr. Stephen Joy.
Francisco Javier Gala
Universidad de Cádiz
Thanks you, dear and very respected Dra. Maryam Moghadasin.
10 Recommendations

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I want to perform a mediation analysis in the context of ESEM (specifically, ESEM-within-CFA). My understanding of my dataset was that I must include the cross-loadings between all variables in the model; when I fit an ESEM, the correlation among variables is much lower.
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I understand that the same component of variance in an indicator cannot be attributed to two constructs in a causal chain, but I have difficulty understanding why different components of variance in one indicator cannot be attributed to two such constructs. For instance, scores on the item "I laugh easily" (a NEO item from the Extraversion factor) have reflections from individuals' Extraversion trait. But Depression may also reflect in how one answers to this item, without any relation to one’s Extraversion (random life events may lead to a good mood). Then in a predictive model, I assume, if I ignore this cross-loading, it will overestimate the predictive power of Extraversion on Depression.
Am I missing something here? Should I include the cross-loadings between these variables in such a situation?
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