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Scaling Procedures
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Scaling Procedures
Issues and Applications



March 2003 | 224 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Effective measurement is a cornerstone of scientific research. Yet many social science researchers lack the tools to develop appropriate assessment instruments for the measurement of latent social-psychological constructs.

Scaling Procedures: Issues and Applications examines the issues involved in developing and validating multi-item self-report scales of latent constructs. Distinguished researchers and award-winning educators Richard G. Netemeyer, William O. Bearden, and Subhash Sharma present a four-step approach for multi-indicator scale development. With these steps, the authors include relevant empirical examples and a review of the concepts of dimensionality, reliability, and validity.

Interdisciplinary in application, this reader-friendly handbook includes

    • A discussion of measurement in the social sciences and the importance of theory in scale development
    • Techniques for assessing dimensionality of constructs
    • An overview of reliability and validity models, theory, and criteria
    • Suggestions for generating and judging measurement items
    • Recommended procedures for designing and conducting studies to develop the scale
    • Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) for finalizing the scale

Scaling Procedures: Issues and Applications supplies cutting-edge strategies for developing and refining measures. Providing concise chapter introductions and summaries, as well as numerous tables, figures, and exhibits, the authors present recommended steps and overlapping activities in a logical, sequential progression.

Designed for graduate students in measurement/psychometrics, structural equation modeling, and survey research seminars across the social science disciplines, Scaling Procedures: Issues and Applications also addresses the needs of researchers and academics in all business, psychology, and sociology-related disciplines.


 
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

"I recommend this book to any researcher (graduate student, academic, social scientist) who is considering developing a summated rating scale. For those who are already sophisticated in psychometrics and data analysis (factor analysis and generalizability theory analysis), the book provides a clear outline of what needs to be done."

Robert G. Jones
Southwest Missouri State University
Personnel Psychology Book Review Section

This book gives a step by step instruction on how to develop a sound psychological scale, addressing several issues in test construction, e.g. reliability, validity, and recommended strategies for developing and finalizing the scales. The language is easy and the examples are helpful. All in all, it gives a good overview over the topic of test construction and should be useful in curricula on test development, validation and evaluation. A limitation is that some of the methods described are not up-to-date.

Dr Christoph Kemper
Education , University of Luxembourg
October 3, 2016

A great textbook for those looking the steps on how to design and verify measurement instruments. The language is easy and the examples very helpful. Strongly recommended.

Dr Bruno Schivinski
Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University
August 27, 2016

This book is a must have for Ph.d. student whose thesis concentrate in quantitative method and need to prove the reliability and validity of the scale. The author shows a very easy step by step on how to build your reliable measurement scale with the very good examples. If you go through the recommendation, I'm pretty sure that your scale would be generalized.

Dr Teerasak Jindabot
Business Administration , Prince of Songkla University
June 27, 2012
Key features

t Offers many empirical examples

t Discusses dimensionality

t Very current

t Not overly technical

t User-friendly

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter One: Introduction and Overview


For instructors

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ISBN: 9781506320182

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