Measurement in the social sciences is widespread in our society, but it has a poor reputation compared with its siblings, instrumental measures in the physical and life sciences. The authors take up again the debate, in re-editing the question and scrutinizing the notions of measurement and measure, measurement unit, standard, measure and scale. They put up some landmarks by which one may decide upon the legitimacy of a measurement context, whether for psychometric tests, academic performance, or other types of socio-cultural measures. Though cautious, the outlook is rather positive and optimistic.