Talk:Construct (philosophy)

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latent variable

Is a construct the same as a latent variable? Is such a variable used to measure a construct? This should become clear from this article. 62.44.134.193 (talk) 05:01, 16 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This page needs help

1. This page assumes idealism about a whole host of issues. It defines constructs as ideal objects that depend on the minds of other people, but then gives examples that don't seem to depend on minds at all, for instance: black holes, atoms, string theory.... Scientists don't tend to think these entities are mind dependent; unless they are committed idealists or conceptualists of some stripe, they tend to think their theories about reality! Also, realists about numbers would reject that the number 3 is a construct. Also, diseases may be latent variables, but whether they are constructs is a matter of debate. They may very well be dispositions--these are REAL properties of objects.

2. The other commenter asks if constructs here are just latent variables. This is the right question to ask.

I recommend re-writing to make it clear that 'construct' is a term used by those who adopt an anti-realist perspective on latent variables. your abilities are your inclanation and your personality needs known as a bias — Preceding unsigned comment added by Neilotte (talk • contribs) 18:18, 21 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]