Scale development : theory and applications / Robert F. DeVellis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

DeVellis, Robert F.

Series:

Applied social research methods series ; v. 26.

Applied social research methods series ; v. 26

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scaling (Social sciences).

Physical Description:

viii, 171 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE Publications, [2003]

Summary:

A best-seller in its first edition, Scale Development: Theory and Applications, Second Edition has been extensively updated and revised to address changes in the field and topics that have grown in importance since the first edition. Widely adopted for graduate courses in departments such as Psychology, Public Health, Marketing, Nursing, and Education, this book will prove beneficial to applied researchers across the social sciences. New to the Second Edition are figures and practical tips for students, a new section on face validity (Chapter 4), a substantially expanded presentation of factor analysis (Chapter 6), a new chapter (7) on item response theory (IRT), coverage of qualitative procedures, and issues related to differential item functioning (Chapter 8).

Contents:

General Perspectives on Measurement 2

Historical Origins of Measurement in Social Science 3

Later Developments in Measurement 5

The Role of Measurement in the Social Sciences 6

2. Understanding the Latent Variable 14

Constructs Versus Measures 14

Latent Variable as the Presumed Cause of Item Values 15

Path Diagrams 16

Further Elaboration of the Measurement Model 20

Parallel Tests 21

Alternative Models 24

3. Reliability 27

Continuous Versus Dichotomous Items 27

Internal Consistency 27

Reliability Based on Correlations Between Scale Scores 39

Generalizability Theory 44

4. Validity 49

Content Validity 49

Criterion-Related Validity 50

Construct Validity 53

What About Face Validity? 57

5. Guidelines in Scale Development 60

Step 1 Determine Clearly What It Is You Want to Measure 60

Step 2 Generate an Item Pool 63

Step 3 Determine the Format for Measurement 70

Step 4 Have the Initial Item Pool Reviewed by Experts 85

Step 5 Consider Inclusion of Validation Items 87

Step 6 Administer Items to a Development Sample 88

Step 7 Evaluate the Items 90

Step 8 Optimize Scale Length 96

6. Factor Analysis 102

An Overview of Factor Analysis 103

A Conceptual Description of Factor Analysis 108

Interpreting Factors 126

Principal Components Versus Common Factors 127

Confirmatory Factor Analysis 131

Using Factor Analysis in Scale Development 133

Sample Size 136

7. An Overview of Item Response Theory 138

Item Difficulty 139

Item Discrimination 142

False Positives 142

Item Characteristic Curves 144

Complexities of IRT 147

When to Use IRT 149

8. Measurement in the Broader Research Context 154

Before Scale Development 154

After Scale Administration 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index (pages 161-165) and index.

ISBN:

0761926046

0761926054

OCLC:

50810013