Q&A with a Researcher: Sandip Sinharay
November 10, 2023
ETS recently conducted an interview with Distinguished Presidential Appointee Sandip Sinharay.
In a recent interview, ETS Distinguished Presidential Appointee Sandip Sinharay shared his thoughts on how psychometrics influences product development, what he hopes to accomplish in his new role as Executive Editor of Psychometrika and which movie most accurately captures the world of psychometrics.
How does psychometrics relate to our daily lives?
Last week, I received two letters from the New Jersey Department of Education. The letters were about the results of my daughters — in the form of test scores and performance levels — in the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA). I will not tell you how they did, but these scores and performance levels were obtained using psychometrics.
Then you recently saw headlines like “The pandemic has had devastating impacts on learning” and “The average test scores for United States 13-year-olds have dipped in reading and dropped sharply in math since 2020…”
How did they find out about that? Again, using methods from psychometrics.
What role does psychometrics play in addressing current educational challenges?
Tools from psychometrics are indispensable in finding achievement gaps, learning deficiencies and learning loss. Then educational policy makers often use those findings to allocate resources properly to overcome the deficiency or loss, whenever possible.
How does psychometrics directly influence the development of products and services at ETS?
After a decision is taken to build a new test and those new tests are created — mostly by test developers — we cannot just proceed to sell the test to clients even if there is market demand. We first have to check whether the test and the test scores satisfy the high-quality standards that ETS is famous for, in terms of validity, fairness and equity.
How do we assess the quality of the test and test scores? Again, using tools from psychometrics.
For example, consider the recently launched TOEFL® Essentials™ Test. ETS felt the market demand for a test that is a little friendlier and more convenient than TOEFL iBT® and the TOEFL Essentials Test was our answer. But before ETS tried to sell Essentials, psychometricians working with the test administered trial versions of the test to several thousand examinees and studied the quality of the scores. Then a decision to proceed to sell the test was taken only after the psychometricians and the business unit were convinced that the quality of the test scores was adequate.
Is there a book, movie or television show that you believe accurately represents the world of psychometrics or just makes you laugh because it's so wrong?
A movie that comes close is “Waiting for Superman.” The movie tries to offer some solutions to inequities in education. The movie somewhat represents the world of psychometrics, given that several ETSers are actively working on reducing inequalities in education. However, I must add that the solutions suggested in the movie are controversial.
Congratulations on your appointment as Executive Editor of Psychometrika. Can you share what this role means to you personally and professionally, and how you plan to contribute to the journal's legacy?
First, I am very proud of this appointment. My office was located in Thurstone Hall, which is named after L. L. Thurstone, who was one of the six people who founded the journal 87 years ago. Also, even though ETS scholars together published probably several hundred articles in this prestigious journal, no current ETSer before me was the Editor-in-Chief of the journal. Thus, this is an honor to me and ETS.
As the Editor-in-Chief, I will be able to know about the latest developments in the field early. I plan to contribute to the journal’s legacy by allowing only high-quality articles to be published, which can go some way toward shaping the field toward the right directions.
As the second person of non-white origin to assume the role of Psychometrika’s Executive Editor in its 87-year history, what message do you believe this appointment sends to the field and beyond?
When I sent the announcement of my appointment and a link to the website with the photos of the past Psychometrika editors to my mother back in India, the first thing she said was, “They look so different from you,” a comment that is understandable because no past Psychometrika editor came from the Indian subcontinent.
I suppose my appointment sends the message to the field that the psychometric society and, more generally, the fields of psychology and education, wholeheartedly embrace the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, and encourage the active involvement of individuals from a variety of backgrounds to a larger extent than in the past.
What's your favorite way to unwind after a challenging day of research and editing?
In the summer and fall, it is gardening. I grow various types of vegetables (like tromboncino squash) and flowers, and plants native to New Jersey.
Some evenings, I take our daughters to a piano or art or music class and learn what happened at their school (one daughter says she hates mathematics because in school they learn mathematical formulas, but not how to ever use them anywhere).
Throughout the year, I walk our dog in the evening. That is quite relaxing.