Meaning and Method in the Social Sciences1

Abstract

Academia's mathematical metaphysics are briefly explored en route to an elaboration of the qualitatively rigorous requirements underpinning the calibration and unambiguous interpretation of quantitative instrumentation in any science. Of particular interest are Gadamer's emphases on number as the paradigm of the noetic, on the role of play in interpretation, and on Hegel's sense of method as the activity of the thing itself that thought experiences. These point toward and overlap with (1) Latour's study of the metrological social networks through which technological phenomena are brought into language as modes of being that can be understood, and (2) the way that Rasch's models for measurement comprise a potential beginning for metaphysically astute, qualitatively and quantitatively integrated, mathematical methods in the social sciences. The paper closes with observations on the general problem that is philosophy, the need to remain open to multiplicities of meaning even as clear understandings are sought and obtained.

Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Intention to Stay in Academia for Physician Assistant Faculty

“…The Rasch model has been extensively applied in many fields, including high stakes professional examinations, such as the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam. 15,16,28 In this study, the Rasch-Andrich rating scale model was used, 29 given that all the items were on the same rating scale. Rating scale category functioning, item-measure correlations, fit statistics, and person and item reliability were examined (see Table 2 for definitions of these and other Rasch terms), and the instrument was further refined based on the obtained results.…”

“…[12][13][14] This practice of focusing on statistical analysis of data rather than on the measurement of a construct is rather common in social science and higher education research. [15][16][17] This study used a more comprehensive and measurement-based approach to variable operationalization; instead of identifying factors that correlated with or predicted PA faculty responses to intention questions, we attempted to develop a measure of "intention to stay in academia" that had both qualitative and quantitative meaning. In other words, a psychometric analysis, rather than a statistical analysis, was conducted to develop a measure that would be stable enough to apply across the various subgroups of PA faculty.…”

Using Life History Calendars to Survey Vulnerability

“…As noted earlier this approach is close to the phenomenological perspective in which the interactions between people the social world and cognitive processes are the objects of investigation (Gadamer 1975;Fisher 2004). How people interpret facts and why they formulate certain interpretations instead of others is central in the phenomenological approach.…”

Commentary

“…The literature on meaningfulness in measurement theory [18][19][20][21][22] shows clearly that scaledependent ordinal scores can be called ''measures'' only by diluting the term so far as to make that word itself meaningless [7]. From this point of view, most applications of factor analysis can only amount to taking advantage of flaws in the dominant paradigm, doing so at the expense of the advances in measurement practice that we need so badly.…”

“…Health care researchers, scale users, patient advocates, accreditation agencies, consumer groups, journal editors, and article reviewers should strongly encourage the development of unified metrics. The future of science lies in collaborations that embody common interests in common mathematical languages [19,29,30].…”