Measuring Masculinity and Femininity

Abstract

Scales, tests and inventories are part of the psychologist’s toolkit, and are of particular interest to psychometricians. The development of such measuring devices is an exacting process, and before they are used to measure anything in the real world their reliability and validity must be assessed. So it is quite common to see research studies which are devoted to the process of developing a particular scale. Such studies put the scale in question ‘on the market’ (if the reader is convinced by the processes of assessment which are reported), and allow future users to refer back to see how their measuring device was constructed and what its potential strengths and weaknesses might be.