Measurement vs Evaluation
Measurement and evaluation are concepts that hold great significance in all human activities. While driving a car, you cannot measure the distance between two yet are able to cruise in between the vehicles as you evaluate that you are safe and make an assessment on the basis of what your eyes see. Yes, measurement is more accurate as it yield standard results and you can make compare the results of two students in an exam on the basis of marks secured by them in individual subjects. Measurements make a strong basis for evaluation and you dare to compare two objects when you know their measurements. However, evaluation becomes necessary even without measurements when there are none to take as in the case of evaluating two novels or paintings. Measurement and evaluation are very important tools in teaching profession which makes it prudent to have a better understanding of the two methods.
Measurement is easy to implement as it is a scientific process of knowing the attributes of an object. You have tools for measurement such as speedometer to measure the velocity of a moving car, weighing machine to measure the weight of an individual and a thermometer to measure the temperature of an object. Measurement tells you how hot, fast, tall, heavy, dense, or long (scores of other attributes) an object is. Of course you can make measurements of physical attributes, but what do you do when you have to measure attributes that have not been standardized to be easily measured with tools.
This is where evaluation comes into picture. The word value inside evaluation is enough to convey an impression that you are passing your judgment about a thing or an individual. You evaluate a plan, a process, success or failure of a method, policies of a government, fairness or lack of it in a judicial system, and so on. You do not have the advantage of tools to make measurements in such cases but still evaluation is done. Of course, evaluation becomes much easier when measured results are available. But evaluation has its own importance and used widely in many situations.
Summary
Measurement is the process of knowing about physical qualities of objects and individuals such as length, weight, height, volume, density, and so on. On the other hand there are circumstances where measurement is not possible. This is where evaluation is done on the basis of either comparison or assessment. Evaluation helps in passing judgment about policies, performances, processes, and so on.
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