ABSTRACT
Measurement is a device for standardization, by which are assured of equivalences among objects of diverse origin. The task of measurement is that of devising a useful rule and exploring the properties of the assignment so as to be able to put it to use. A fundamental measurement is one which presupposes no others, save those which consist in establishing an order or making a count; a derived measurement is one which is carried out by making use of laws, logical or empirical, relating to fundamental measures. A scale of measurement, Stevens has suggested may be identified as the rule of assignment, the principle by which a measure is determined for any given magnitude. Measurement of behavior adds immeasurably to the effectiveness of various instruments of social control. A latent distrust and even an overt hostility against the application of measurement to human subject-matters are, in this perspective, quite understandable.
