PERCEPTIONS OR REALITY - IS MULTI-PERSPECTIVE MEASUREMENT A MEANS OR AN END

This article takes an epistemological perspective on ''perceptions or reality'' when examining multi-rater assessment measures as means vers us ends and contrasts the scientist's and practitioner's perspectives. Multiple ratings-when used to map differences as well as similarities in perceptions about common reference points-can be powerful tools fo r individual or organizational development applications. The applicati on of measurement tools for development purposes is quite different fr om the psychometric focus of measurement, however. In the latter, meas urement becomes an end in itself; in the former, it is more a means to an end. (C) 1993 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.