Expanding worldviews on psychometric analysis of measurement tools in health professions education and research.

Worldviews influence research-from design to interpretation and reporting. Historically, psychometrics has been predominantly situated within a positivist paradigm, while social research has often aligned with interpretivist or critical paradigms. However, emerging perspectives in the philosophy-of-science are challenging this rigid alignment, inviting a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between worldviews and methodologies in the health professions. This article explores both historical and emerging worldviews related to psychometrics-asking readers to reconsider assumptions and preconceived ideas about which worldview applies to this field of research. Furthermore, this article challenges the psychometrics community to consider how the field can occupy seemingly competing worldviews and approaches, including those that have historically been more commonly associated with qualitative research-such as critical theory (under the broader umbrella of critical inquiry) and reflexivity. Using illustrative case examples applicable to the anatomical sciences and health professions, we discuss the evolution of perspectives on psychometrics and its relationship to worldviews through the lenses of classical test theory and item response theory to the contemporary paradigm of "critical psychometrics".