IOMW 2006 Overview

The International Objective Measurement Workshop is the biennial conference of the objective measurement community. Researchers in this community are dedicated to the development and application of the Rasch family of item response psychometric models. (For more information about objective measurement, please visit the OM Links page.) All who are interested in the theory and practice of measurement in the human sciences, including education, psychology, sociology, and medicine, are invited to participate in IOMW 2006 as presenters and/or attendees.

This year's conference will offer attendees and presenters an opportunity to reflect on the centrality of the practice of measuring within our work in objective measurement, whether in the construction of instruments or in the development of models and technologies to support measurement.

A focus on the practice of measuring requires us to keep in mind the ultimate contributions of our work toward making meaningful, valid, and reliable characterizations of people and institutions that are often used as the basis for high-impact decisions about their future. In the service of measuring, the Rasch measurement model is a necessary but not sufficient condition for sustaining confidence in our work; we must consider other aspects of the design, development, and practical use of measures, including issues of construct theory, item design, interpretation, training, and implementation.

In holding with the theme of the conference, we invite submitters to situate their work within the larger context of the practice of measuring. Papers focusing upon the relationship between the theoretical foundations of measurement and the practical use of measures in the field are particularly welcome.