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. 1989 Nov;70(12):857-60.

Observations are always ordinal; measurements, however, must be interval

B D Wright  1 , J M Linacre
Affiliations
  • PMID: 2818162

Observations are always ordinal; measurements, however, must be interval

B D Wright et al. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1989 Nov.

Abstract

Quantitative observations are based on counting observed events or levels of performance. Meaningful measurement is based on the arithmetical properties of interval scales. The Rasch measurement model provides the necessary and sufficient means to transform ordinal counts into linear measures. Imperfect unidimensionality and other threats to linear measurement can be assessed by means of fit statistics. The Rasch model is being successfully applied to rating scales.

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  • A perspective on Wright and Linacre.
    Johnston MV, Findley TW. Johnston MV, et al. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1990 May;71(6):439-40. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1990. PMID: 2334293 No abstract available.

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