Note Technique: Invariance et Modèles de Mesure dans les Sciences Sociales,Introduction à l'œuvre de Georg Rasch

This technical note deals with a class of probabilistic measurement models identified by the Danish mathematician Georg Rasch (1901-80). Models of this class have been used to construct and test questionnaires in the various social sciences. This is a remarkable class of models because the defining conception of measurement is similar to that of the natural sciences. In particular, the criterion of invariance with respect to a frame of reference is central. These models are capable of advancing our conceptions of both the social sciences and the natural sciences.