Quantitative psychology
Encyclopedia
Research in quantitative psychology develops psychological theory in relation to mathematics and statistics. Psychological research requires the elaboration of existing methods and the development of new concepts, so that quantitative psychology requires more than "applications" of statistics and mathematics.
Quantitative psychology has two major subfields, psychometrics
and mathematical psychology
, which are associated most to statistics
and mathematics
. Research in psychometrics
develops statistical
procedures for the problems of psychology, such as psychological scaling
, and testing. Research in mathematical psychology
develops of novel mathematical models that describe psychological processes.
Quantitative psychology is served by several scientific organizations. These include the Psychometric Society, Division 5 of the American Psychological Association
(Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics), the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology
, and the European Society for Methodology. Associated disciplines include statistics
, mathematics
, educational measurement, educational statistics, sociology, and political science. Several scholarly journals reflect the efforts of scientists in these areas, notably Psychometrika
, Multivariate Behavioral Research, Structural Equation Modeling and Psychological Methods.
Currently, over two dozen American universities offer Ph.D. programs in quantitative psychology within their psychology departments (and additional universities offer similar programs through their education programs). There is also a comparable number of Master-level programs in quantitative psychology in the US.
Quantitative psychology has two major subfields, psychometrics
Psychometrics
Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...
and mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychological research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, cognitive and motor processes, and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifiable stimulus characteristics with quantifiable behavior...
, which are associated most to statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. Research in psychometrics
Psychometrics
Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...
develops statistical
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
procedures for the problems of psychology, such as psychological scaling
Scaling
Scaling may refer to:* Scaling , a linear transformation that enlarges or diminishes objects* Reduced scales of semiconductor device fabrication processes...
, and testing. Research in mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychological research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, cognitive and motor processes, and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifiable stimulus characteristics with quantifiable behavior...
develops of novel mathematical models that describe psychological processes.
Quantitative psychology is served by several scientific organizations. These include the Psychometric Society, Division 5 of the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
(Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics), the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology
Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology
The Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology is a small academic organization of research psychologists who have interests in multivariate statistical models for advancing psychological knowledge...
, and the European Society for Methodology. Associated disciplines include statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, educational measurement, educational statistics, sociology, and political science. Several scholarly journals reflect the efforts of scientists in these areas, notably Psychometrika
Psychometrika
The Psychometric Society is an international nonprofit professional organization devoted to the advancement of quantitative measurement practices in psychology, education, and the social sciences....
, Multivariate Behavioral Research, Structural Equation Modeling and Psychological Methods.
Currently, over two dozen American universities offer Ph.D. programs in quantitative psychology within their psychology departments (and additional universities offer similar programs through their education programs). There is also a comparable number of Master-level programs in quantitative psychology in the US.