Modeling measurement and its quality

This chapter aims to propose a general model of a measurement process, consistent with the ontological and epistemological commitments developed in the previous chapters. Starting from the premise that any measurement is grounded on an empirical process, we propose a characterization of measurement methods related to the complementary roles of empirical and informational components, by broadly distinguishing between direct and indirect methods of measurement, where indirect measurements necessarily include at least one direct measurement. The stages of direct measurement are then analyzed and exemplified in reference to both physical and psychosocial properties. This is the basis for discussing once again the quality of measurement, now described in terms of the complementary requirements of object relatedness (“objectivity”) and subject independence (“intersubjectivity”).