Contributions To Psychometrics
Georg Rasch is best known for his contributions to psychometrics. His work in this field began when he used the Poisson distribution to model the number of errors made by students when reading texts. He referred to the model as the multiplicative Poisson model.
Prominent advocates of Rasch's models including Benjamin Drake Wright and David Andrich, both having made substantial contributions to the theory and application of Rasch's models. David Andrich spent six months during 1977 as a fellow of the Danish Institute for Educational Research working with Georg Rasch.
He later developed the Rasch model for dichotomous data, which he applied to response data derived from intelligence and attainment tests including data collected by the Danish military. At the same epoch, American scientists independently developed item response theory (IRT). Within IRT, the Rasch model is one of the most simple response models. In contrast to other simple models, the Rasch model has a distinctive mathematical property: the model parameters (item difficulties, examinee ability) are sufficient statistics. Rasch demonstrated that his approach met criteria for measurement deduced from an analysis of measurement in the physical sciences. He also proposed generalizations of his model (Rasch, 1960/1980, 1977).
Today, the Rasch model is used extensively in assessment in education and educational psychology, particularly for attainment and cognitive assessments.
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“The vast material displacements the machine has made in our physical environment are perhaps in the long run less important than its spiritual contributions to our culture.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)