Quotations

Rasch at the Cowles Commission

Georg Rasch's first visit to Chicago occurred in 1947, as a guest of the Cowles Commission for Research on Economics. The Commission was launched in 1932 by Alfred Cowles, an investment counsellor concerned about improving the accuracy of stock market forecasting. Its original motto was "Science is Measurement". Under pressure from social scientists, this was diluted in 1952 to "Theory and Measurement".

"During the last months of the year [1947] a cooperative study was made by [Tjalling C.] Koopmans, [a physicist turned econometrician,] and two visitors: Olav Reiersøl (University of Norway, Oslo) and George Rasch (State Serum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark). They made a comparative study of problems arising from the specification of models: a multivariate model designed for the study of human metabolism; a model designed for the analysis of mental aptitudes; and an econometric model of the type employed by the Cowles Commission in its economic research. The similarities and differences encountered help to understand the nature of scientific induction" (1948 p.6).

While at the Commission, Rasch presented two Discussion Papers, "305. A biometric multidimensional model" and "307. Remarks on estimation". On November 20, 1947, he conducted a seminar entitled "Statistical analysis of growth curves".

Cowles Commission for Research in Economics (1948) Report for 1947. Chicago.

The Cowles Foundation is now located at Yale University cowles.econ.yale.edu. Rasch's Discussion Papers appear to be available in their library.


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"It would be interesting to inquire how many times essential advances in science have first been made possible by the fact that the boundaries of special disciplines are not respected... Trespassing is one of the most successful techniques in science."
Wolfgang Köhler (1940) Dynamics in Psychology


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"Without the discovery of uniformities, there can be no concepts, no classifications, no formulations, no principles, no laws; and without these no science can exist."
C. Kluckhohn, H. Murray (1944) Personality Formation


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"That is, indeed, the precise and only use or significance of these fractions termed probabilities: they give security in the long run."
C. S. Peirce (1867) Review of John Venn's The Logic of Chance.

Rasch at the Cowles Commission, C.S. Peirce, etc. … Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1998, 11:4 p. 603.




Rasch Publications
Rasch Measurement Transactions (free, online) Rasch Measurement research papers (free, online) Probabilistic Models for Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests, Georg Rasch Applying the Rasch Model 3rd. Ed., Bond & Fox Best Test Design, Wright & Stone
Rating Scale Analysis, Wright & Masters Introduction to Rasch Measurement, E. Smith & R. Smith Introduction to Many-Facet Rasch Measurement, Thomas Eckes Invariant Measurement: Using Rasch Models in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, George Engelhard, Jr. Statistical Analyses for Language Testers, Rita Green
Rasch Models: Foundations, Recent Developments, and Applications, Fischer & Molenaar Journal of Applied Measurement Rasch models for measurement, David Andrich Constructing Measures, Mark Wilson Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences, Boone, Stave, Yale
in Spanish: Análisis de Rasch para todos, Agustín Tristán Mediciones, Posicionamientos y Diagnósticos Competitivos, Juan Ramón Oreja Rodríguez

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