Rhetoric of psychological measurement theory and practice
Kathleen L Slaney1, Megan E Graham1, Ruby S Dhillon1
1Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Frontiers in Psychology
|May 3, 2024
Summary
This study analyzes rhetorical language in psychological measurement and validity research. It identifies useful and potentially harmful discourse practices to improve scientific communication and validity.
Area of Science:
- Metascience
- Psychology
- Scientific Discourse Analysis
Background:
- Metascience traditionally analyzes scientific rhetoric for legitimacy.
- Psychology is increasingly scrutinized due to replicability issues and questionable research practices.
- This study focuses on the rhetoric within psychological measurement and validity scholarship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine rhetorical and discourse practices in psychological measurement and validity literature.
- To identify both constructive and potentially harmful communication styles.
- To connect psychological metascience with broader interdisciplinary studies of scientific discourse.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis combined with exploratory grounded theory.
- Identification of themes within published psychological discourse.
- Analysis of rhetorical elements including persuasion, tropes, literary styles, and ambiguous claims.
Main Results:
- Identified various discourse practices in psychological measurement and validity literature.
- Categorized rhetorical elements such as persuasion, rote expressions, literary styles, and ambiguous claims.
- Provided examples of both beneficial and detrimental discourse practices.
Conclusions:
- Rhetorical analysis is crucial for understanding the validity of psychological measurement claims.
- Awareness of discourse practices can mitigate misleading or harmful communication.
- This work contributes to critical methodological literature and interdisciplinary metascience.
Keywords:
metasciencemethodological reformpsychological measurementrhetoricrhetoric of sciencevalidationMore Related Videos
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