Claims

Scaling is a sine qua non for experimental use of tests, and unscaled tests interpreted as scaled do harm

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1921 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q2 i? Equal-scale-unit comparability is essential for most experimental purposes because progress along a scale is generally involved; in many situations no test at all does less harm than an unscaled test whose scores are interpreted as though scaled. → Franzen 1921

Evidence

Franzen 1921

Franzen, R., & Knight, F. B. (1921). Criteria to Employ in Choice of Tests. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0075312

q2 · i? · theoretical · r2

Analytical argument that equal units across the scale enable comparing progress, which underlies comparison, experiment, classification, diagnosis and quantitative definition. The authors add that teachers and administrators generally misinterpret unscaled scores as scaled; no empirical data reported.

"it is a sine qua non in the use of a test for most experimental purposes, since progress along a scale is generally involved. If we cannot compare progress, and we cannot unless a test is scaled, then we cannot gain much from comparison, experiment, classification, diagnosis or quantitative definition."

Discussion

Page metadata
Field Value
type claim
id scaling-sine-qua-non-experimental-use
title Scaling is a sine qua non for experimental use of tests, and unscaled tests interpreted as scaled do harm
description Scaling is a sine qua non for experimental use of tests, and unscaled tests interpreted as scaled do harm
status review
evidence_strength weak
newest_evidence 1921
generated by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-24
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — franzen-1921

Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.