"The project was initiated by the Commission on the Social Studies in the Schools and carried out as a cooperative effort of social scientists and statisticians. Its tone is set throughout by clash of the divergent viewpoints of these unlike groups. The result is a book with a dual personality.

Wilson, William  R.

English

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146 Book Reviewsuntarnished honor, of peculiar foresight, of strong will and of in-tense energy in bringing to pass things of which others only dreamed.In preserving the record of his father's active business life Mr. Ba-ker has rendered a most useful public service.EDWARD LINCOLN SMITHTests and Measurements in the Social Sciences. By TRUMANL. KELLEY and A. C. KREY. (Charles Scribner's Sons, NewYork,1934. $3.00.)This volume summarizes the results of a four-year study of ob-jective tests and measurements in the field of the social studies. Theproject was initiated by the Commission on the Social Studies in theSchools and carried out as a cooperative effort of social scientistsand statisticians. Its tone is set throughout by clash of the divergentviewpoints of these unlike groups. The result is a book with a dualpersonality.The plan of the committee was to prepare new-type tests thatwould be valid and reliable measures of the educational valuesachieved by the social sciences. The project was started with highhopes. The social scientists had confidence that the statisticianswould have no great difficulty in securing in the field of the socialsciences measures of the same exactness they were reputed to haveprepared in other areas of knowledge. The statisticians, on theirpart, appear to have assumed that no difficulties not already over-come in other fields would be encountered in the attempt to secureexact measurements of the changes brought about in school childrenby study of the social sciences.The disappointment that followed the dashing of these highhopes permeates the entire volume. In retrospect, as Prof. Kreypoints out, there was little justification for the great expectationswith which the project was begun. The technical experts could notbegin work until the social scientists had furnished them with astatement of the ends, aims, and purposes of instruction in terms ofobjective knowledge. Such a statement did not exist and could notbe formulated. As Professor Krey points out, ct • •• it became clearthat the most 'objective' fact about social science was that it was solargely 'subjective.' "Under the handicap of this difficulty the collaborators did thebest they could. The social scientists present a reasoned and care-ful analysis of the aims of social science instruction, albeit not in theTests, Measurement in Social Sciences 147objective form desired by the statisticians. The technical expertsemploy techniques in an attack on some minor problems of socialscience teaching. But under the circumstances no concerted attackon common problems was possible and the divergent viewpoints ofthe two groups are on most points unreconciled. The two chaptersin which these clashes of viewpoint are presented are among themost valuable in the book. In the final chapter Prof. Krey evaluatesthe project from the viewpoint of a social scientist. In Appendix 1,under the heading "A Divergent Opinion as to the Function ofTests and Testing," Prof. Kelley, the statistical adviser for the com-mittee, presents the sharply contrasting viewpoint of the technicalexpert in measurement. These two statements will doubtless serveas the starting point for a further attack on the problems they raise.By clarifying the issues they do much to clear the ground for a newalliance of testers and teachers.The diverse conclusions of the authors should not draw atten-tion from the factual contents of the study. Roughly two-thirds ofthe 635 pages are devoted to descriptions of actual experimentalstudies of measurement in the social science. The general methodof securing measurements of abilities is stated clearly and at lengthby Prof. Kelley. Prof. L. C. Pressey contributes a chapter on themeasurement of knowledge of the concepts used in the social sci-ences. Prof. Kelley describes tests designed to measure the degreeof understanding that students have of words. Other chapters de-scribe tests of mastery of the concepts used in the social sciences andof the ability to read maps. An ingenious test of ability to evaluatehistorical evidence is described by Miss Marion Clark. ProfessorsKelley and Trabue give an account of an elaborate study aimed atthe measurement of such character traits as courtesy, fair play, hon-esty in school work, loyalty to fellows, poise, and regard for prop-erty rights. Prof. Jordan, following the techniques devised by Hart-shorne and May, studied the cheating of students in the classroomand the reasons for such dishonesty.In view of these solid achievements and of the immense amountof necessary trial and error that now lies behind the committee, thepessimism of the authors seems hardly justified. It is no smallachievement that the social scientists have set out to make use of thenewer techniques of measurement in an attempt to evaluate the re-sults of their teaching. Nothing short of this elaborate enterprisewould have been sufficient to demonstrate that no type of test, new148 Book Reviewsor old, can measure the deep seated changes that it is hoped takesplace in the pupil as a result of instruction in the social sciences. Thefundamental problem of discovering the extent to which social sci-ence instruction in the schools brings about differences in the stu-dent when he becomes a citizen, a tax payer, and a voter, lies farbeyond the skill of any tester. Yet it is on the assumption of suchdifferences that social science instruction is justified. It is inevitablethat the social scientist and the technical specialist in measurementcontinue to collaborate until the anomaly of a science that cannot usethe methods of science no longer exists. As a first step in that col-laboration the present book is necessary and valuable.WILLIAM R. WILSONTriggernometry: A gallery of gunfighters with technical notes onleather slapping as a fine art} gathered from many a loose hol-stered expert over the years. By EUGENE CUNNINGHAM. (NewYork: The Press of the Pioneers. 1934. Pp.441. $3.75.)This colorful collection of biographies of famous Texas gun-men supplies the reader with plenty of thrills. Mr. Cunningham inhis treatment of the lives of these men avoids sensationalism throughhis commendable restraint. While Eugene Manlove Rhodes in hisforeword points out that the grim-faced gunman "killed armed men-not men unarmed and bound" there is no attempt on the author'spart to glorify the exploits of either these fugitives from justice orof the sheriffs who pursued them. No attempt is made to picturemen like Billy the Kid, John Wesley Hardin or Wild Bill Hickokas other than what they really were. Despite the author's impartialtreatment the reader's sympathy is aroused many times for thesefrontier fighters whose fearlessness alone often puts to shame thetactics of our modern gangster. As the title suggests, Mr. Cunning-ham emphasizes throughout his book the technique of shooting anddevotes his final chapter to "triggernometry." A rather unusualfeature for a book of this type is the bibliography or "Source Shelf,"listing thirty books mostly biographical in nature.RONALD TODD

Tests and Measurements in the Social Sciences

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Tests and Measurements in the Social Sciences

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