Scaling Procedures: Issues and Applications

Abstract

About the Authors Chapter One: Introduction and Overview Purpose of the Book. Perspectives on Measurement in the Social Sciences. Latent Constructs Overview of dimensionality, reliability, and validity Overview of recommended procedures and steps in scale development. Chapter Two: Dimensionality Introduction. Dimensionality of construct, items, and a set of items. Does uni-dimensionality of a set of items imply uni-dimensionality of items or construct? Relevance of uni-dimensionality. How to assess dimensionality of constructs. Chapter Three: Reliability Introduction The true-score model Coefficient alpha Generalizability Theory Chapter Four: Validity Overview of Construct Validity Translation validity Criterion validity Convergent and discriminant validity Known-group validity Nomological validity Chapter Five: Steps 1 and 2: Construct Definition and Generating and Judging Measurement items Chapter 5: Steps 1 and 2: Construct Definition and Judging Measurement Items Introduction Step 1: Construct definition and content domain Step 2: Generating and judging measurement items Applications of Steps 1 and 2. Chapter Six: Step 3: Designing and Conducting Studies to Develop the Scale Introduction Pilot testing Conducting multiple studies for initial development and validation Initial item analyses: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) Initial item and reliability analyses A final caveat EFA and item and reliability analyses examples from the literature Chapter 7: Step 4: Finalizing the Scale Introduction EFA and additional item analyses Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) Additional evaluations of validity Establishing norms Applying generalizability theory Chapter Eight: Concluding Remarks Index