Applied Psychometrics

Professor: TBD
Units: 0.5
Elective Course
Concentrations: Quantitative Methods and Social and Behavioral Sciences

This course aims to introduce students to the application of psychometric analysis, from a research perspective. Psychometrics involves measurements of people's beliefs, moods, attitudes, aptitudes, and abilities; measuring these constructs in people requires a set of tools that allow us to make links between the thing we are actually assessing (i.e. the answers to questions given by individuals) and the thing we are actually interested in (the psychological state of the individuals who have completed the measures). It is this distinction that makes psychological measurement both challenging and interesting. We cannot make decisions about policy to improve outcomes if we cannot measure those outcomes.

We will focus on the application of psychometric theory, not on the mathematical proof of that theory. Students should have an understanding of basic statistics, probability, correlation, and linear and logistic regression. The course will cover the development and testing of a psychometric instrument, developed by the student.