Chatty Kathy

Today I gave a well-received talk in the Department of Methodology and Statistics here at Tilburg University. The talk concerned whether psychometrics is a pathological science. I argued that it is not, despite the claims of Joel Michell. Nevertheless, Michell's critique is important and even if I do not agree with the letter of his criticism, I agree with the spirit. It is important work that should be read by those interested in psychological measurement.

The Q&A session was great. People got very excited (and by 'excited' I mean visibly unnerved) by what I had to say. At least they were interested. Most of the criticisms from the audience were not directed at me, but at the critique I was challenging. If I did a good job, then at least one of them will take a look at Michell's articles.

I'm up to my neck in grant proposals, job applications, and chapter 5 of the dissertation. I'm not sleeping much these days which has afforded me plenty of time to do mindless activities such as format the dissertation, write the acknowledgements, and figure out what, exactly, I have to do in order to graduate in May.

Another pic from the past: The face of psychological measurement