xxvi
My interest in measurement began when I was teaching Grade 5 at Yarraville
West Primary School on the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. As a newly
minted teacher, I was surprised that although there were curricula available to help
guide teachers about what they should teach, there were no tools available to help
me find out what my students knew already. Later, while studying for my PhD with
Benjamin D. Wright at the University of Chicago, I came to see that (a) this weakness was one that stretched across almost all of the human sciences, even where
much material was available, and (b) there were indeed sound and practical paths
out of there. So, thank you Ben, I appreciate your deep insights into measurement,
and on your insistence that the methods of measurement must make sense.
Nevertheless, after almost 30 years of working on theory, models, and practice in
this area, I still felt that there was a gap in the foundations of my approach to measurement, and that is where this volume comes in. Hence, thank you to my two coauthors, Luca and Andy, and to my colleagues, William Fisher and David Torres
Irribarra, for persisting with me through many hours (and years) of discussion and
effort (and even some disagreements), to lay out this manifesto.
Mark Wilson
The collaboration between the three of us that has taken place over these last
years and eventually led to the production of this book has been instrumental in my
development as a scholar, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to both Luca Mari and
Mark Wilson, the latter of whom was also my PhD advisor. In addition, I am especially grateful to Joshua McGrane, Derek Briggs, and David Torres Irribarra, all of
whom are valuable colleagues and invaluable friends. Lastly, I owe everything to
Diana Arya, who I met during my PhD studies and has since become not only my
wife but also my closest colleague and intellectual sparring partner. Building both
our careers and our lives together has been a privilege beyond measure.
Andrew Maul
Acknowledgments
My interest in measurement began when I was teaching Grade 5 at Yarraville
West Primary School on the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. As a newly
minted teacher, I was surprised that although there were curricula available to help
guide teachers about what they should teach, there were no tools available to help
me find out what my students knew already. Later, while studying for my PhD with
Benjamin D. Wright at the University of Chicago, I came to see that (a) this weakness was one that stretched across almost all of the human sciences, even where
much material was available, and (b) there were indeed sound and practical paths
out of there. So, thank you Ben, I appreciate your deep insights into measurement,
and on your insistence that the methods of measurement must make sense.
Nevertheless, after almost 30 years of working on theory, models, and practice in
this area, I still felt that there was a gap in the foundations of my approach to measurement, and that is where this volume comes in. Hence, thank you to my two coauthors, Luca and Andy, and to my colleagues, William Fisher and David Torres
Irribarra, for persisting with me through many hours (and years) of discussion and
effort (and even some disagreements), to lay out this manifesto.
Mark Wilson
The collaboration between the three of us that has taken place over these last
years and eventually led to the production of this book has been instrumental in my
development as a scholar, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to both Luca Mari and
Mark Wilson, the latter of whom was also my PhD advisor. In addition, I am especially grateful to Joshua McGrane, Derek Briggs, and David Torres Irribarra, all of
whom are valuable colleagues and invaluable friends. Lastly, I owe everything to
Diana Arya, who I met during my PhD studies and has since become not only my
wife but also my closest colleague and intellectual sparring partner. Building both
our careers and our lives together has been a privilege beyond measure.
Andrew Maul
Acknowledgments