Book excerpt: Scientific Foundations of Clinical Assessment is a user-friendly overview of the most important principles and concepts of clinical assessment. It provides readers with a science-based framework for interpreting assessment research and making good assessment decisions, such as selecting the best instruments and measures and interpreting the obtained assessment data. Written in a direct and highly readable fashion, with plenty of clinical examples that illustrate the relevance of psychometric principles and assessment research, this text is one every professional and graduate student needs to read. Numerous elements are used consistently throughout the book to facilitate understanding and retention, such as: • text boxes that provide extended presentations of the application of principles and research • end-of-chapter summaries that review key issues covered, and • additional recommended sources for each chapter. A detailed glossary that defines key measurement and assessment concepts is also included, making this book an invaluable reference and supplementary text for anyone who does clinical assessment in the health and mental health domains.