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It is a challenge to talk about values and a provocation to call them "valid". But it is necessary when human dignity is at stake. Freedom, love, truth and life determine and protect this dignity. The highest value is life; when it is threatened, one loses the experience of dignity. Mere autonomy going beyond value-oriented freedom can threaten life, physically and psychologically. If we do not respect our livelihoods, we threaten them. Genuine love of one's neighbour prevents tolerance from turning into populist, intolerant ideologies. Dignity as the standard for our coexistence gives rise to hope. Therefore, this book invites us to think, feel and act responsibly for a life ‘in fullness’ (John 10:10).
Public and intellectual debates have long struggled with the concept of values and the difficulties of defining them. With The Genesis of Values, renowned theorist Hans Joas explores the nature of these difficulties in relation to some of the leading figures of twentieth-century philosophy and social theory: Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, Max Scheler, John Dewey, Georg Simmel, Charles Taylor, and Jürgen Habermas. Joas traces how these thinkers came to terms with the idea of values, and then extends beyond them with his own comprehensive theory. Values, Joas suggests, arise in experiences in self-formation and self-transcendence. Only by appreciating the creative nature of human action can we understand how our values arise.
The assessment of individual differences has generated shockwaves affecting sociology, education, and a number of other behavioral sciences as well as the fields of management and organizational behavior. In covering the assessment of individual differences, this book pays tribute to the interests and activities that Douglas N. Jackson has incorporated into his career as a psychologist. He continues to be a leader in putting academic findings to practical use. He has also inspired generations of students with his mastery of complex concepts and as a personal example of the ability to balance several simultaneous areas of research. Consistent with the focus of Jackson's research, the theme of this book will be how the use of deductive, construct-driven strategies in the assessment of individual differences leads to benefits in terms of the applicability of the assessment instruments and the clarity of the conclusions that can be drawn from the research.
In the wake of the renewed interest in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, the neo-Kantian theories of Heinrich Rickert (1863-1936) are increasingly drawing attention. This monograph is an attempt to rescue Rickert from an undeserved oblivion by an analysis of his systematic philosophy of values. The author discusses Rickert’s epistemology and ontology which lay the foundation for a methodology of the Natural Sciences and the Humanities. In Rickert’s view these types of science are not in opposition to each other but operate on a continuum between two extremes: a ‘generalizing’ (natural-scientific) and an ‘individualizing’ (cultural-scientific) approach to reality. The social sciences in particular operate on this continuum in a flexible manner, sometimes close to the natural-scientific pole as in the case of experimental psychology or econometrics, sometimes close to the cultural-scientific approach, as in the case of cultural sociology or cultural history. Thus there is in Rickert’s logic of science no room for any methodological quarrel.
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license.​​ This book describes the extensive contributions made toward the advancement of human assessment by scientists from one of the world’s leading research institutions, Educational Testing Service. The book’s four major sections detail research and development in measurement and statistics, education policy analysis and evaluation, scientific psychology, and validity. Many of the developments presented have become de-facto standards in educational and psychological measurement, including in item response theory (IRT), linking and equating, differential item functioning (DIF), and educational surveys like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Programme of international Student Assessment (PISA), the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In addition to its comprehensive coverage of contributions to the theory and methodology of educational and psychological measurement and statistics, the book gives significant attention to ETS work in cognitive, personality, developmental, and social psychology, and to education policy analysis and program evaluation. The chapter authors are long-standing experts who provide broad coverage and thoughtful insights that build upon decades of experience in research and best practices for measurement, evaluation, scientific psychology, and education policy analysis. Opening with a chapter on the genesis of ETS and closing with a synthesis of the enormously diverse set of contributions made over its 70-year history, the book is a useful resource for all interested in the improvement of human assessment.
The polygraph, often portrayed as a magic mind-reading machine, is still controversial among experts, who continue heated debates about its validity as a lie-detecting device. As the nation takes a fresh look at ways to enhance its security, can the polygraph be considered a useful tool? The Polygraph and Lie Detection puts the polygraph itself to the test, reviewing and analyzing data about its use in criminal investigation, employment screening, and counter-intelligence. The book looks at: The theory of how the polygraph works and evidence about how deceptivenessâ€"and other psychological conditionsâ€"affect the physiological responses that the polygraph measures. Empirical evidence on the performance of the polygraph and the success of subjects' countermeasures. The actual use of the polygraph in the arena of national security, including its role in deterring threats to security. The book addresses the difficulties of measuring polygraph accuracy, the usefulness of the technique for aiding interrogation and for deterrence, and includes potential alternativesâ€"such as voice-stress analysis and brain measurement techniques.
An extended historical and philosophical argument, this book will be a valuable text for all students of the philosophy of the social sciences. It discusses the serious alternatives to positivist and empiricist accounts of the physical sciences, and poses the debate between naturalism and anti-naturalism in the social sciences in new terms. Recent materialist and realist philosophies of science make possible a defence of naturalism which does not make concessions to positivism and which recognizes the force of several of the anti-positivist arguments from the main anti-naturalist (neo-Kantian) tradition. The author presents a critical evaluation of empiricist and positivist theories of knowledge, and investigates some classic attempts at using them to provide the philosophical foundation for a scientific sociology. He takes the Kantian critique of empiricism as the starting point for the main anti-positivist and anti-naturalist philosophical approaches to the social studies. He goes on to investigate the inadequacy of post-Kantian arguments from Rickert, Weber, Winch and others, both against non-positivist forms of naturalism and as the possible source of a distinctive philosophical foundation for the social studies. The book concludes with a critical investigation of the Marxian tradition and an attempt to establish the possibility of a materialist and realist defence of the project of a natural science of history, which escapes the fundamental flaws of both positivist and neo-Kantian attempts at philosophical foundation.