Likert or Not, Survey (In)validation Requires Explicit Theories and True Grit

Likert or not, we are biased.

To the Editor: I read with interest the recent article by Baker regarding the value of normalizing resident evaluation scores to eliminate individual faculty evaluator bias. Without unduly undermining the importance of this study, I have concern about the statistical handling of Likert scores. Likert scores were used to create individual faculty member mean scores, faculty score standard deviat...

True grit and genetics: Predicting academic achievement from personality.

Grit-perseverance and passion for long-term goals-has been shown to be a significant predictor of academic success, even after controlling for other personality factors. Here, for the first time, we use a U.K.-representative sample and a genetically sensitive design to unpack the etiology of Grit and its prediction of academic achievement in comparison to well-established personality traits. Fo...

Theories of Causation and Explanation: Necessarily True or Domain-Specific?

True Theories, False Colors

Recent versions of objectivism can reply to the argument from metamers. The deeper rift between subjectivists and objectivists lies in the question of how to explain the structure of qualitative similarities among the colors. Subjectivism grounded in this fashion can answer the circularity objection raised by Dedrick. It endorses skepticism about the claim that there is some one property of obj...

Student Ratings of Instruction: True or False

Introduction. Students' evaluation of teaching is a major concern in higher education. In this regard, during the past 30 years hundreds of papers have been published which because of various grounds from valid, reliable to useless, such papers cannot be easily summarized. The present study investigated for two purposes, first was to out line opinions of two groups of advocates and opposites a...