Unidimensional constructs are measured using reflective indicators (even though multiple reflective indicators may be used for measuring abstruse constructs such as self-esteem), while multidimensional constructs are measured as a formative combination of the multiple dimensions, even though each of the underlying dimensions may be measured using one or more reflective indicators. The three most popular unidimensional scaling methods are: Thurstone’s equal-appearing scaling, Likert’s summative scaling, and Guttman’s cumulative scaling. The Likert method, a unidimensional scaling method developed by Murphy and Likert (1938), is quite possibly the most popular of the three scaling approaches described in this chapter. Content validity is more related to comprehensiveness in the measurement of your construct i.e. Guttman scale. However, SES index measurement has generated a lot of controversy and disagreement among researchers. The statistical properties of these scales are shown in Table 6.1. (1950). Examples include simple constructs such as a person’s weight, wind speed, and probably even complex constructs like self-esteem (if we conceptualise self-esteem as consisting of a single dimension, which of course, may be an unrealistic assumption). This is known as o_____. Research objectives typically call for the measurement of constructs. While defining constructs such as prejudice or compassion, we must understand that sometimes, these constructs are not real or can exist independently, but are simply imaginary creations in our mind. The process of understanding what is included and what is excluded in the concept of prejudice is the conceptualization process. In this work, we document the state of the art of measurement in strategic management research, and discuss the implications for interpreting the results of research in this field. To understand how these items were derived, refer to the “Scaling” section later on in this chapter. This typology can be used to categorise newspapers into one of four ‘ideal types’ (A through D), identify the distribution of newspapers across these ideal types, and perhaps even create a classificatory model for classifying newspapers into one of these four ideal types depending on other attributes. 1139 Scopus citations. Permissible statistical analyses include all of those allowed for nominal and ordinal scales, plus correlation, regression, analysis of variance, and so on. ATTRIBUTES of objects. There are customary methods for defining and measuring constructs. The first decision to be made in operationalizing a construct is to decide on what is the intended level of measurement. Thurstone’s equal-appearing scaling method. In this module, it will be assumed that all measures have an acceptable level of reliability and validity. Construct measurement represents a key task for any scholar attempting to develop a theoretical contribution or an empirical study. The process of creating an index is similar to that of a scale. In the end, researcher’s’ judgment may be used to obtain a relatively small (say 10 to 15) set of items that have high item-to-total correlations and high discrimination (i.e., high -values). Note that some of these scales may include multiple items, but all of these items attempt to measure the same underlying dimension. An important goal of scientific research is to conceptually define psychological constructs in ways that accurately describe them. For instance, academic aptitude can be measured using two separate tests of students’ mathematical and verbal ability, and then combining these scores to create an overall measure for academic aptitude. In most research methods texts, construct validity is presented in the section on measurement. Issues of Research Design and Construct Measurement in Entrepreneurship Research: The past Decade. However, the actual or relative values of attributes or difference in attribute values cannot be assessed. Once a theoretical construct is defined, exactly how do we measure it? The selection process is done by having each judge independently rate each item on a scale from 1 to 11 based on how closely, in their opinion, that item reflects the intended construct (1 represents extremely unfavourable and 11 represents extremely favourable). This is a composite (multi-item) scale where respondents are asked to indicate their opinions or feelings toward a single statement using different pairs of adjectives framed as polar opposites. Each of these methods are discussed here. What is your desired level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) or rating scale? A typical example of a six-item Likert scale for the “employment self-esteem” construct is shown in Table 6.3. Stevens, S. (1946). Likert items allow for more granularity (more finely tuned response) than binary items, including whether respondents are neutral to the statement. For instance, if religiosity is defined as composing of a belief dimension, a devotional dimension, and a ritual dimension, then indicators chosen to measure each of these different dimensions will be considered formative indicators. To determine a set of items that best approximates the cumulativeness property, a data analysis technique called scalogram analysis can be used (or this can be done visually if the number of items is small). Other less common scales are not discussed here. The outcome of a scaling process is a scale , which is an empirical structure for measuring items or indicators of a given construct. Measurement refers to careful, deliberate observations of the real world and is the essence of empirical research. Unidimensional constructs are those that are expected to have a single underlying dimension. Afterward, you will present your responses to the class. Binary scales can also employ other values, such as male or female for gender, full-time or part-time for employment status, and so forth. This is particularly the case with many social science constructs such as self-esteem, which are assumed to have a single dimension going from low to high. Latent construct example. Since most scales employed in social science research are unidimensional, we will next examine three approaches for creating unidimensional scales. Third, create a rule or formula for calculating the index score. Judges with the same number of “yes”, the statements can be sorted from left to right based on most number of agreements to least. Note that some of these scales may include multiple items, but all of these items attempt to measure the same underlying dimension. The Likert method assumes equal weights for all items, and hence, a respondent’s responses to each item can be summated to create a composite score for that respondent. Likert scales are summated scales—that is, the overall scale score may be a summation of the attribute values of each item as selected by a respondent. If someone says bad things about other racial groups, is that racial prejudice? Theoretical propositions consist of relationships between abstract constructs. How many scale attributes should you use (e.g., 1–10; 1–7; −3 to +3)? However, in semantic differential scales, the statement remains constant, while the anchors (adjective pairs) change across items. Given the high level of subjectivity and imprecision inherent in social science constructs, we tend to measure most of those constructs (except a few demographic constructs such as age, gender, education, and income) using multiple indicators. A group of judges then rate each candidate item as “yes” if they view the item as being favorable to the construct and “no” if they see the item as unfavorable. For instance, if we conceptualise a person’s academic aptitude as consisting of two dimensions—mathematical and verbal ability—then academic aptitude is a multidimensional construct. Unidimensional constructs are those that are expected to have a single underlying dimension. A group of judges then rate each candidate item as ‘yes’ if they view the item as being favourable to the construct and ‘no’ if they see the item as unfavourable. Most measurement in the natural sciences and engineering, such as mass, incline of a plane, and electric charge, employ ratio scales, as do some social science variables such as age, tenure in an organisation, and firm size (measured as employee count or gross revenues). Because a strong linkage between concepts and their measures … Operational Definitions. We now have a scale which looks like a ruler, with one item or statement at each of the 11 points on the ruler (and weighted as such). Quantitative analysis: Inferential statistics. In this chapter, we will examine the related processes of conceptualization and operationalization for creating measures of such constructs. Unidimensional scale measures constructs along a single scale, ranging from high to low. Designed by Rensis Likert, this is a very popular rating scale for measuring ordinal data in social science research. In the latter case, we can say that respondents who are “somewhat satisfied” are less satisfied than those who are “strongly satisfied”, but we cannot quantify their satisfaction levels. Permissible statistics are chi-square and frequency distribution, and only a one-to-one (equality) transformation is allowed (e.g., 1 = Male, 2 = Female). Be both creative and precise! The conceptualization process is all the more important because of the imprecision, vagueness, and ambiguity of many social science constructs. The appropriate measure of central tendency of a nominal scale is mode, and neither the mean nor the median can be defined. Indicators may be reflective or formative. While some constructs in social science research—such as a person’s age, weight, or a firm’s size—may be easy to measure, other constructs—such as creativity, prejudice, or alienation—may be considerably harder to measure. AU - Scandura, Terri A. The process of creating the indicators is called scaling. Responses are obtained on a seven point … As noted in the previous chapter, variables may be independent, dependent, mediating, or moderating, depending on how they are employed in a research study. Binary scales are nominal scales consisting of binary items that assume one of two possible values, such as yes or no, true or false, and so on. A six-item binary scale for measuring political activism, Have you ever written a letter to a public official, Have you ever signed a political petition, Have you ever donated money to a political cause, Have you ever donated money to a candidate running for public office, Have you ever written a political letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine, Have you ever persuaded someone to change his/her voting plans, Table 6.3. If someone says bad things about other racial groups, is that racial prejudice? Figure 6.2. Note: All higher-order scales can use any of the statistics for lower order scales. Income is measured in dollars, education in years or degrees achieved, and occupation is classified into categories or levels by status. Despite the fact that validating the measures … A classic example in the natural sciences is Moh’s scale of mineral hardness, which characterizes the hardness of various minerals by their ability to scratch other minerals. Construct Measurement and Validation Procedures in MIS and Behavioral Research: Integrating New and Existing Techniques. These constructs can be measured using a single measure or test. If churchgoers believe that non-believers will burn in hell, is that religious prejudice? These very different measures are combined to create an overall SES index score, using a weighted combination of ‘occupational education’ (percentage of people in that occupation who had one or more year of university education) and ‘occupational income’ (percentage of people in that occupation who earned more than a specific annual income). Typical marketing constructs are brand loyalty, satisfaction, preference, awareness, knowledge. Scales and indexes generate ordinal measures of unidimensional constructs. However, there may be a few exceptions, as shown in Table 6.6, and hence the scale is not entirely cumulative. Values of attributes may be quantitative (numeric) or qualitative (non-numeric). Even if we assign unique numbers to each value, for instance 1 for male and 2 for female, the numbers don’t really mean anything (i.e., 1 is not less than or half of 2) and could have been easily been represented non-numerically, such as M for male and F for female. It is different from scales in that scales also aggregate measures, but these measures measure different dimensions or the same dimension of a single construct . Are there different kinds of prejudice, and if so, what are they? Multidimensional constructs are measured as a formative combination of the multiple dimensions, even though each of the underlying dimensions may be measured using one or more reflective indicators. This scale includes Likert items that are simply-worded statements to which respondents can indicate their extent of agreement or disagreement on a five or seven-point scale ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. AU - Gardiner, Claudia C. AU - Lankau, Melenie J. PY - 1993/4. Monotonically increasing transformation (which retains the ranking) is allowed. Nevertheless, indexes and scales are both essential tools in social science research. Are there different levels of prejudice, such as high or low? Third, create a rule or formula for calculating the index score. The next chapter will examine how to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scales developed using the above approaches. Designed by Louis Guttman, this composite scale uses a series of items arranged in increasing order of intensity of the construct of interest, from least intense to most intense. If churchgoers believe that non -believers will burn in hell, is that religious prejudice? are equidistant from each other. Semantic differential scale. Though indexes and scales yield a single numerical score or value representing a construct of interest, they are different in many ways. Rather, scaling is the formal process of developing scale items, before rating scales can be attached to those items. A typical example of a six-item Likert scale for the ‘employment self-esteem’ construct is shown in Table 6.3. In the end, researcher’s judgment may be used to obtain a relatively small (say 10 to 15) set of items that have high item-to-total correlations and high discrimination (i.e., high t-values). Binary scales can also employ other values, such as male or female for gender, full-time or part-time for employment status, and so forth. Likert items allow for more granularity (more finely tuned response) than binary items, including whether respondents are neutral to the statement. Next, a panel of judges is recruited to select specific items from this candidate pool to represent the construct of interest. Three or nine values (often called “anchors”) may also be used, but it is important to use an odd number of values to allow for a “neutral” (or “neither agree nor disagree”) anchor. AU - Schriesheim, Chester A. These scales are called ‘ratio’ scales because the ratios of two points on these measures are meaningful and interpretable. Hence, the name paired comparison method. An instrument was developed based on a critical review of both the conceptualization and practice of this construct. Though this appears simple, there may be a lot of disagreement among judges on what components (constructs) should be included or excluded from an index. This chapter examined the process and outcomes of scale development. How many scale attributes should you use (e.g., 1 to 10; 1 to 7; −3 to +3)? Multidimensional constructs consist of two or more underlying dimensions. Should you use a scale, index, or typology? Each of the underlying dimensions in this case must be measured separately, say, using different tests for mathematical and verbal ability, and the two scores can be combined, possibly in a weighted manner, to create an overall value for the academic aptitude construct. See all articles by Scott B. MacKenzie Scott B. MacKenzie. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 2001 25: 4, 101-113 Download Citation. Notice that the scale is now almost cumulative when read crosswise from left to right . Overview; Fingerprint; Abstract. Following this rating, specific items can be selected for the final scale in one of several ways: by computing bivariate correlations between judges’ ratings of each item and the total item (created by summating all individual items for each respondent), and throwing out items with low (e.g., less than 0.60) item-to-total correlations, or by averaging the rating for each item for the top quartile and the bottom quartile of judges, doing a -test for the difference in means, and selecting items that have high -values (i.e., those that discriminate best between the top and bottom quartile responses). Thurstone also created two additional methods of building unidimensional scales – the method of successive intervals and the method of paired comparisons – which are both very similar to the method of equal-appearing intervals, except for how judges are asked to rate the data. For instance, diamonds can scratch all other naturally occurring minerals on earth, and hence diamond is the “hardest” mineral. This is why the research literature often includes different conceptual definitions of the same construct. A reflective indicator is a measure that “reflects” an underlying construct. Should you use an odd or even number of attributes (i.e., do you wish to have neutral or mid-point value)? In this vein, this paper (a) critically reviews the state of construct measurement in organizational strategy research … Unidimensional constructs are measured using reflective indicators, even though multiple reflective indicators may be used for measuring abstruse constructs such as self-esteem. Examples include gender (two values: male or female), industry type (manufacturing, financial, agriculture, etc. one of the earliest and most famous scaling theorists, published a method of equal-appearing intervals in 1925. Binary scales are nominal scales consisting of binary items that assume one of two possible values, such as yes or no, true or false, and so on. Multidimensional scales, on the other hand, employ different items or tests to measure each dimension of the construct separately, and then combine the scores on each dimension to create an overall measure of the multidimensional construct. Judges may include academics trained in the process of instrument construction or a random sample of respondents of interest (i.e., people who are familiar with the phenomenon). But in real life, we tend to treat this concept as real. How will you rate your opinions on the following statements about immigrants? High quality quantitative dissertations are able to clearly bring together theory, constructs and variables.Broadly speaking, constructs are the building blocks of theories, helping to explain how and why certain phenomena behave the way that they do. In published research, however, several examples that treat the measures and the construct in accordance with cell-3 can be found. ‘Scales’, as discussed in this section, are a little different from the ‘rating scales’ discussed in the previous section. These items are generated by experts who know something about the construct being measured. grasping the inextricable link between scale validity and effective research [Thompson, 2003]. Stevens (1946) said, ‘Scaling is the assignment of objects to numbers according to a rule’. Based on this definition, potential scale items are generated to measure this construct. This is particularly the case with many social science constructs such as self-esteem, which are assumed to have a single dimension going from low to high. For example, the temperature scale (in Fahrenheit or Celsius), where the difference between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit is the same as that between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Hence, statistical analyses may involve percentiles and non-parametric analysis, but more sophisticated techniques such as correlation, regression, and analysis of variance, are not appropriate. Histogram for Thurstone scale items, Likert’s summative scaling method . Three or nine values (often called ‘anchors’) may also be used, but it is important to use an odd number of values to allow for a ‘neutral’ (or ‘neither agree nor disagree’) anchor. Indicators representing constructs at the empirical level are called v_____. Likert scales are summated scales, that is, the overall scale score may be a summation of the attribute values of each item as selected by a respondent. Y indicates exceptions that prevents this matrix from being perfectly cumulative. Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices (Revised edition) by Anol Bhattacherjee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Monotonically increasing transformation (which retains the ranking) is allowed. If women earn less than men for the same job, is that gender prejudice? Lastly, validate the index score using existing or new data. However, note that the numbers are only labels associated with respondents’ personal evaluation of their own satisfaction, and the underlying variable (satisfaction) is still qualitative even though we represented it in a quantitative manner. In the classical model of test validity, construct validity is one of three main types of validity evidence, alongside content validity and criterion validity. However, instead of relying entirely on statistical analysis for item selection, a better strategy may be to examine the candidate items at each level and selecting the statement that is the most clear and makes the most sense. The appropriate measure of central tendency of a nominal scale is mode, and neither the mean nor the median can be defined. Following this rating, specific items can be selected for the final scale can be selected in one of several ways: (1) by computing bivariate correlations between judges rating of each item and the total item (created by summing all individual items for each respondent), and throwing out items with low (e.g., less than 0.60) item-to-total correlations, or (2) by averaging the rating for each item for the top quartile and the bottom quartile of judges, doing a t-test for the difference in means, and selecting items that have high t-values (i.e., those that discriminates best between the top and bottom quartile responses). In practice, we seldom find a set of items that matches this cumulative pattern perfectly. Understanding CONSTRUCTS ... An operational definition is simply how a researcher decides to measure (and thus define) a construct For example, intelligence is more than a score on a test… Practice makes perfect… In small groups, you will operationalize the following variables. For instance, the method of paired comparison requires each judge to make a judgment between each pair of statements (rather than rate each statement independently on a 1 to 11 scale). In practice, we seldom find a set of items that matches this cumulative pattern perfectly. Unidimensional scale measures constructs along a single scale, ranging from high to low. If you have a proposition stating that “compassion is positively related to empathy”, you cannot test that proposition unless you can conceptually separate empathy from compassion and then empirically measure these two very similar constructs correctly. Some studies have used a ‘forced choice approach’ to force respondents to agree or disagree with the Likert statement by dropping the neutral mid-point and using an even number of values, but this is not a good strategy because some people may indeed be neutral to a given statement, and the forced choice approach does not provide them the opportunity to record their neutral stance. Strategic management research has been characterized as placing less emphasis on construct measurement than other management subfields. In most research methods texts, construct validity is presented in the section on measurement. Most measurement in the natural sciences and engineering, such as mass, incline of a plane, and electric charge, employ ratio scales, as are some social science variables such as age, tenure in an organization, and firm size (measured as employee count or gross revenues). Operationalisation refers to the process of developing indicators or items for measuring these constructs. To measure the well-defined construct, one must develop i_____ (or items) to empirically m_____ the construct. However, researchers sometimes wish to summarise measures of two or more constructs to create a set of categories or types called a typology. Suppose a researcher is interested in measuring subjects' degrees of extraversion with a survey. I think Construct validity is close to the concept of sensitivity. However, the scale does not indicate the actual hardness of these minerals or even provides a relative assessment of their hardness. For example, a firm of size zero means that it has no employees or revenues. AU - Powers, Kathleen J. Constructs are variables that indicate the researcher’s operationalisation of concepts. Unidimensional scaling methods were developed during the first half of the twentieth century and were named after their creators. Scales can be unidimensional or multidimensional, based on whether the underlying construct is unidimensional (e.g., weight, wind speed, firm size) or multidimensional (e.g., academic aptitude, intelligence). Constructs in quantitative research. However, instead of relying entirely on statistical analysis for item selection, a better strategy may be to examine the candidate items at each level and select the statement that makes the most sense. Note that the satisfaction scale discussed earlier is not strictly an interval scale, because we cannot say whether the difference between “strongly satisfied” and “somewhat satisfied” is the same as that between “neutral” and “somewhat satisfied” or between “somewhat dissatisfied” and “strongly dissatisfied”. Examples include simple constructs such as a person’s weight, wind speed, and probably even complex constructs like self-esteem (if we conceptualize self-esteem as consisting of a single dimension, which of course, may be a unrealistic assumption). Based on this definition, potential scale items are generated to measure this construct. Based on the four generic types of scales discussed above, we can create specific rating scales for social science research. However, scales typically involve a set of similar items that use the same rating scale (such as a five-point Likert scale). The process of regarding mental constructs as real is called reification , which is central to defining constructs and identifying measurable variables for measuring them. These scales are used for variables or indicators that have mutually exclusive attributes. In S. A. Stouer, L. A. Guttman & E. A. Schuman (Eds. Each item in this scale is a binary item, and the total number of ‘yes’ indicated by a respondent (a value from zero to six) can be used as an overall measure of that person’s political activism. A scalogram analysis is used to examine how closely a set of items corresponds to the idea of cumulativeness. This typology can be used to categorize newspapers into one of four “ideal types” (A through D), identify the distribution of newspapers across these ideal types, and perhaps even create a classificatory model to classifying newspapers into one of these four ideal types depending on other attributes. Notice that the scale is now almost cumulative when read from left to right (across the items). An index is a composite score derived from aggregating measures of multiple constructs (called components) using a set of rules and formulas. For instance, ranking of students in class says nothing about the actual GPA or test scores of the students, or how they well performed relative to one another. The median value of each scale item represents the weight to be used for aggregating the items into a composite scale score representing the construct of interest. Income is measured in dollars, education in years or degrees achieved, and occupation is classified into categories or levels by status. Likewise, if you have a scale that asks respondents’ annual income using the following attributes (ranges): $0–10,000, $10,000–20,000, $20,000–30,000, and so forth, this is also an interval scale, because the mid-point of each range (i.e., $5,000, $15,000, $25,000, etc.) The process of creating the indicators is called scaling. Table of Contents; Measurement; Measurement. While some constructs in social science research—such as a person’s age, weight, or a firm’s size—may be easy to measure, other constructs—such as creativity, prejudice, or alienation—may be considerably harder to measure. Sophisticated transformation such as positive similar (e.g., multiplicative or logarithmic) are also allowed. measures for construct measurement in management research Conceptual issues and application guidelines Christoph Fuchs Adamantios Diamantopoulos Die Verwendung von Single-Item Messinstrumen-ten ist Gegenstand vermehrter Diskussionen in der aktuellen betriebswirtschaftlichen Forschung. Notice that in Likert scales, the statement changes but the anchors remain the same across items. The statistical technique also estimates a score for each item that can be used to compute a respondent’s overall score on the entire set of items. However, in semantic differential scales, the statement remains constant, while the anchors (adjective pairs) change across items. While some constructs in social science research, such as a person’s age, weight, or a firm’s size, may be easy to measure, other constructs, such as creativity, prejudice, or alienation, may be considerably harder to measure. The next chapter will examine how to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scales developed using the above approaches. The final scale items are selected as statements that are at equal intervals across a range of medians. Measurement is the process of observing and recording the observations that are collected as part of a research effort. First, conceptualize (define) the index and its constituent components. The resulting matrix will resemble Table 6.6. Sophisticated transformation such as positive similar (e.g., multiplicative or logarithmic) are also allowed. For instance, is ‘compassion’ the same thing as ‘empathy’ or ‘sentimentality’? Ordinal scales can also use attribute labels (anchors) such as “bad”, “medium”, and “good”, or “strongly dissatisfied”, “somewhat dissatisfied”, “neutral”, or “somewhat satisfied”, and “strongly satisfied”. MEASURES OF MARKETING CONSTRUCTS Gilber A. Churchill (1979) Introduced by Azra Dedic in the course of “Measurement in Business Research” Introduction Measurements are “rules for assigning numbers to objects to represent qualities of attributes”. All statistical methods are allowed. This resource is designed for health behavior researchers in public health, health communications, nursing, psychology, and related fields. Downloadable (with restrictions)! Levels of measurement, also called rating scales, refer to the values that an indicator can take (but says nothing about the indicator itself). Like previous scaling methods, the Guttman method also starts with a clear definition of the construct of interest, and then using experts to develop a large set of candidate items. If an employment status item is modified to allow for more than two possible values (e.g., unemployed, full-time, part-time, and retired), it is no longer binary, but still remains a nominal scaled item. Because a strong linkage between concepts and their measures enhances theory development, it is necessary to validate strategy measures systematically. Constructs are considered latent variable because they cannot be directly observable or measured. These items are generated by experts who know something about the construct being measured. Scales can be unidimensional or multidimensional, based on whether the underlying construct is unidimensional (e.g., weight, wind speed, firm size) or multidimensional (e.g., academic aptitude, intelligence). For each item, compute the median and inter-quartile range (the difference between the 75 th and the 25 th percentile – a measure of dispersion), which are plotted on a histogram, as shown in Figure 6.1. For example, if religiosity is defined as a construct that measures how religious a person is, then attending religious services may be a reflective indicator of religiosity. A 20 item measure is proposed. ), and religious affiliation (Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc.). These items are then rated by judges on a 1 to 5 (or 1 to 7) rating scale as follows: 1 for strongly disagree with the concept, 2 for somewhat disagree with the concept, 3 for undecided, 4 for somewhat agree with the concept, and 5 for strongly agree with the concept. A formative indicator is a measure that “forms” or contributes to an underlying construct. What is the goal? Another example of index is socio-economic status (SES), also called the Duncan socioeconomic index (SEI). A six-item Likert scale for measuring employment self-esteem, I’m proud of my relationship with my supervisor at work, I can tell that other people at work are glad to have me there, I feel like I make a useful contribution at work. An index is a composite score derived from aggregating measures of multiple constructs (called components) using a set of rules and formulas. Semantic differential scale. It involves the operation to construct variables, and the development and application of instruments or tests to quantify these variables [Kimberlin & Winterstein, 2008]. For example, if religiosity is defined as a construct that measures how religious a person is, then attending religious services may be a reflective indicator of religiosity. Likewise, a customer satisfaction scale may be constructed to represent five attributes: ‘strongly dissatisfied’, ‘somewhat dissatisfied’, ‘neutral’, ‘somewhat satisfied’ and ‘strongly satisfied’. A classic example in the natural sciences is Moh’s scale of mineral hardness, which characterises the hardness of various minerals by their ability to scratch other minerals. Enthusiasm 2. Consider for example a recent attempt to operationalize the involvement construct (Zaichkowsky 1985). Research objectives typically call for the measurement of constructs. Second, operationalise and measure each component. For instance, if religiosity is defined as composing of a belief dimension, a devotional dimension, and a ritual dimension, then indicators chosen to measure each of these different dimensions will be considered formative indicators. Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Marketing. In closing, scale (or index) construction in social science research is a complex process involving several key decisions. And, it is typically presented as one of many different types of validity (e.g., face validity, predictive validity, concurrent validity) that you might want to be sure your measures have. The combination of indicators at the empirical level representing a given construct is called a variable. If … Second, operationalize and measure each component. 2. For instance, one can create a political typology of newspapers based on their orientation toward domestic and foreign policy, as expressed in their editorial columns, as shown in Figure 6.2. Answering all of these questions is the key to measuring the prejudice construct correctly. In almost all cases elementary definitional operations are performed. The idea is that people who agree with one item on this list also agree with all previous items. Figure 6.1. Y1 - 1993/4. For instance, we can create a customer satisfaction indicator with five attributes: strongly dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, neutral, somewhat satisfied, and strongly satisfied, and assign numbers 1 through 5 respectively for these five attributes, so that we can use sophisticated statistical tools for quantitative data analysis. Our definition of such constructs is not based on any objective criterion, but rather on a shared (‘inter-subjective’) agreement between our mental images (conceptions) of these constructs. Are there different levels of prejudice, such as high or low? A formative indicator is a measure that ‘forms’ or contributes to an underlying construct. For instance, the word ‘prejudice’ conjures a certain image in our mind, however, we may struggle if we were asked to define exactly what the term meant. For instance, a “gender” variable may have two attributes: male or female. Constructs exist at a higher level of abstraction than concepts. This is a composite (multi-item) scale where respondents are asked to indicate their opinions or feelings toward a single statement using different pairs of adjectives framed as polar opposites. For instance, if an unobservable theoretical construct such as socioeconomic status is defined as the level of family income, it can be operationalized using an indicator that asks respondents the question: what is your annual family income? The statistical technique also estimates a score for each item that can be used to compute a respondent’s overall score on the entire set of items. Because items appear equally throughout the entire 11-pointrange of the scale, this technique is called an equal-appearing scale. The median value of each scale item represents the weight to be used for aggregating the items into a composite scale score representing the construct of interest. A scalogram analysis is used to examine how closely a set of items corresponds to the idea of cumulativeness. For research psychologists, shyness as a theoretical construct is something that underlies and explains a wide range of thoughts, feelings, physical states, and behaviors. MIS Quarterly, 35(2), 293-334, 2011. Are there different kinds of prejudice, and if so, what are they? However, SES index measurement has generated a lot of controversy and disagreement among researchers. For instance, there may be certain tribes in the world who lack prejudice and who cannot even imagine what this concept entails. For instance, the word ‘prejudice’ conjures a certain image in our mind, however, we may struggle if we were asked to define exactly what the term meant. Ratio scales are those that have all the qualities of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales, and in addition, also have a “true zero” point (where the value zero implies lack or non-availability of the underlying construct). A key characteristic of a Likert scale is that even though the statements vary in different items or indicators, the anchors (“strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”) remain the same. For instance, we often use the word “prejudice” and the word conjures a certain image in our mind; however, we may struggle if we were asked to define exactly what the term meant. Designed by Louis Guttman, this composite scale uses a series of items arranged in increasing order of intensity of the construct of interest, from least intense to most intense. It is different from scales in that scales also aggregate measures, but these measures measure different dimensions or the same dimension of a single construct. For instance, one can create a political typology of newspapers based on their orientation toward domestic and foreign policy, as expressed in their editorial columns, as shown in Figure 6.2. 93 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2014. Second, indexes often combine objectively measurable values such as prices or income, while scales are designed to assess subjective or judgmental constructs such as attitude, prejudice, or self-esteem. Even if we assign unique numbers to each value, for instance 1 for male and 2 for female, the numbers do not really mean anything (i.e., 1 is not less than or half of 2) and could have been easily been represented non-numerically, such as M for male and F for female. If deeply religious people believe that some members of their society, such as nonbelievers, gays, and abortion doctors, will burn in hell for their sins, and forcefully try to change the so-called sinners’ behaviours to prevent them from going to hell, are they acting in a prejudicial manner or a compassionate manner? Finally, what procedure would you use to generate the scale items (e.g., Thurstone, Likert, or Guttman method) or index components? Do you mind immigrants being citizens of your country, Do you mind immigrants living in your own neighborhood, Would you mind living next door to an immigrant, Would you mind having an immigrant as your close friend, Would you mind if someone in your family married an immigrant. Some argue that the sophistication of the scaling methodology makes scales different from indexes, while others suggest that indexing methodology can be equally sophisticated. Likewise, if you have a scale that asks respondents’ annual income using the following attributes (ranges): $0 to 10,000, $10,000 to 20,000, $20,000 to 30,000, and so forth, this is also an interval scale, because the mid-point of each range (i.e., $5,000, $15,000, $25,000, etc.) Unidimensional scaling methods were developed during the first half of the twentieth century and were named after their creators. A construct is an abstract idea inferred from specific instances that are thought to be related. Like previous scaling methods, the Guttman method also starts with a clear definition of the construct of interest, and then uses experts to develop a large set of candidate items. Note that any item with reversed meaning from the original direction of the construct must be reverse coded (i.e., 1 becomes a 5, 2 becomes a 4, and so forth) before summating. One important decision in conceptualising constructs is specifying whether they are unidimensional or multidimensional. The three most popular unidimensional scaling methods are: (1) Thurstone’s equal-appearing scaling, (2) Likert’s summative scaling, and (3) Guttman’s cumulative scaling. We now have a scale which looks like a ruler, with one item or statement at each of the 11 points on the ruler (and weighted as such). First, indexes often comprise of components that are very different from each other (e.g., income, education, and occupation in the SES index) and are measured in different ways. Permissible statistics are chi-square and frequency distribution, and only a one-to-one (equality) transformation is allowed (e.g., 1=Male, 2=Female). Designed by Rensis Likert, this is a very popular rating scale for measuring ordinal data in social science research. This index is a combination of three constructs: income, education, and occupation. This method starts with a clear conceptual definition of the construct of interest. This scale includes Likert items that are simply-worded statements to which respondents can indicate their extent of agreement or disagreement on a five or seven-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”. However, social science researchers often “pretend” (incorrectly) that these differences are equal so that we can use statistical techniques for analyzing ordinal scaled data. However, researchers sometimes wish to summarize measures of two or more constructs to create a set of categories or types called a typology . As in the Likert scale, the overall scale score may be a summation of individual item scores. For each item, compute the median and inter-quartile range (the difference between the 75th and the 25th percentile—a measure of dispersion), which are plotted on a histogram, as shown in Figure 6.1. Perceived severity is one aspect of the health belief model. A well-known example of an index is the consumer price index (CPI), which is computed every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. While defining constructs such as prejudice or compassion, we must understand that sometimes, these constructs are not real or can exist independently, but are simply imaginary creations in our mind. Constructs help research and applied psychologists to summarize the complex array of observed behaviours, emotions, and thoughts that people produce in their day-to-day activities. The Kelvin temperature scale is also a ratio scale, in contrast to the Fahrenheit or Celsius scales, because the zero point on this scale (equalling -273.15 degree Celsius) is not an arbitrary value but represents a state where the particles of matter at this temperature have zero kinetic energy. Scales and indexes generate ordinal measures of unidimensional constructs. Likert scale. A rating scale is used to capture the respondents’ reactions to a given item—for example, a nominal scaled item captures a yes/no reaction—,and an ordinal scaled item captures a value between ‘strongly disagree’ and ‘strongly agree’. are equidistant from each other. Since most scales employed in social science research are unidimensional, we will next three examine approaches for creating unidimensional scales. A well-known example of an index is the consumer price index (CPI), which is computed every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. A multi-dimensional typology of newspapers. Louis Thurstone. research or about the specific criteria that should be used to distinguish between formative and reflective indicator constructs. In others, researchers are still in the process of deciding which of various conceptual definitions is the best. How would you rate your opinions on national health insurance? As an example, the construct ‘attitude toward immigrants’ can be measured using five items shown in Table 6.5. These three approaches are similar in many respects, with the key differences being the rating of the scale items by judges and the statistical methods used to select the final items. First, you have to understand the fundamental ideas involved in measuring. The selection process is done by having each judge independently rate each item on a scale from 1 to 11 based on how closely, in their opinion, that item reflects the intended construct (1 represents extremely unfavorable and 11 represents extremely favorable). Each item in the above Guttman scale has a weight (not indicated above) which varies with the intensity of that item, and the weighted combination of each response is used as aggregate measure of an observation. In his seminal article titled ‘On the theory of scales of measurement’ published in Science in 1946,[1] psychologist Stanley Smith Stevens defined four generic types of rating scales for scientific measurements: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales. Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices (Revised edition), Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ), and religious affiliation (Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc.). The process of specifying the observable instances of a construct is often referred to as providing an operational definition for a construct. Construct measurement is of pivotal importance if we are to advance management research and scholars must (at a minimum) demonstrate that (1) measures employed plausibly capture the theoretical constructs and (2) theoretical and empirical levels of analysis for the proposed construct match (Lawrence, 1997). The basis for scalogram analysis. In closing, scale (or index) construction in social science research is a complex process involving several key decisions. This matrix is sorted in decreasing order from judges with more “yes” at the top to those with fewer “yes” at the bottom. Quantitative data can be analysed using quantitative data analysis techniques, such as regression or structural equation modelling, while qualitative data requires qualitative data analysis techniques, such as coding. Allowed central tendency measures include mean, median, or mode, as well as measures of dispersion, such as range and standard deviation. All measures of central tendencies, including geometric and harmonic means, are allowed for ratio scales, as are ratio measures, such as studentized range or coefficient of variation. Construct validity is most important which tells us whether we are able to correctly measure what we are supposed to measure. The process of understanding what is included and what is excluded in the concept of prejudice is the conceptualisation process. Hence, the name paired comparison method. Gaylen N. Chandler and Douglas W. Lyon. The central tendency measure of an ordinal scale can be its median or mode, and means are uninterpretable. This website provides definitions of major theoretical constructs employed in health behavior research, and information about the best measures of these constructs. This research describes efforts to develop and validate a multidimensional measure of the learning organization. More formally, scaling is a branch of measurement that involves the construction of measures by associating qualitative judgments about unobservable constructs with quantitative, measurable metric units. In this chapter, we will examine the related processes of conceptualisation and operationalisation for creating measures of such constructs. Semantic differential is believed to be an excellent technique for measuring people’s attitude or feelings toward objects, events, or behaviours. Again, this process may involve a lot of subjectivity. However, note that the numbers are only labels associated with respondents’ personal evaluation of their own satisfaction, and the underlying variable (satisfaction) is still qualitative even though we represented it in a quantitative manner. And, it is typically presented as one of many different types of validity (e.g., face validity, predictive validity, concurrent validity) that you might want to be sure your measures have. Using a complicated weighting scheme that takes into account the location and probability of purchase of each item, these prices are combined by analysts, which are then combined into an overall index score using a series of formulas and rules. Measurement. Quantitative analysis: Descriptive statistics, 15. What is measured? Designed by Guttman (1950), the cumulative scaling method is based on Emory Bogardus’ social distance technique, which assumes that people’s willingness to participate in social relations with other people vary in degrees of intensity, and measures that intensity using a list of items arranged from “least intense” to “most intense”. Also each indicator may have several attributes (or levels), with each attribute representing a different value. For instance, is “compassion” the same thing as “empathy” or “sentimentality”? Management and Organizations; Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review. Measurement refers to careful, deliberate observations of the real world and is the essence of empirical research. Measurement in Research. Downloadable (with restrictions)! The initial pool of candidate items (ideally 80 to 100 items) should be worded in a similar manner, for instance, by framing them as statements to which respondents may agree or disagree (and not as questions or other things). Ordinal scales can also use attribute labels (anchors) such as ‘bad, ‘medium’, and ‘good’, or ‘strongly dissatisfied’, ‘somewhat dissatisfied’, ‘neutral’, or ‘somewhat satisfied’, and ‘strongly satisfied’. What is your desired level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) or rating scale? Multidimensional constructs consist of two or more underlying dimensions. Scott B. MacKenzie, Philip M. Podsakoff, Nathan P. Podsakoff. The previous section discussed how to measure respondents’ responses to predesigned items or indicators belonging to an underlying construct. When combined with perceived susceptibility, they are labeled as perceived threats. conduct research concerning the operational definition and measurement of a construct. Perceived severity refers to an individual’s belief about the seriousness of contracting an illness or disease, or the severity of the consequences of leaving it untreated. For example, male and female (or M and F, or 1 and 2) are two levels of the indicator “gender.” In his seminal article titled “On the theory of scales of measurement” published in Science in 1946, psychologist Stanley Smith Stevens (1946) defined four generic types of rating scales for scientific measurements: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales. For judges with the same number of ‘yes, the statements can be sorted from left to right based on most number of agreements to least. For instance, students’ rankings in class say nothing about their actual GPAs or test scores, or how they well performed relative to one another. Our definition of such constructs is not based on any objective criterion, but rather on a shared (“inter-subjective”) agreement between our mental images (conceptions) of these constructs. Nominal scales, also called categorical scales, measure categorical data. Next, a matrix or table is created showing the judges’ responses to all candidate items. Measurement refers to careful, deliberate observations of the real world and is the essence of empirical research. Constructs: Constructs are measured with multiple variables. Testing theories (i.e., theoretical propositions) require measuring these constructs accurately, correctly, and in a scientific manner, before the strength of their relationships can be tested. The IQ scale is also an interval scale, because the scale is designed such that the difference between IQ scores 100 and 110 is supposed to be the same as between 110 and 120—although we do not really know whether that is truly the case. Understand that “scales”, as discussed in this section, are a little different from “rating scales” discussed in the previous section. For example, a typical binary scale for the ‘political activism’ construct may consist of the six binary items shown in Table 6.2. Far too often do management scholars resort to crude and often inappropriate measures of fundamental constructs in their research; an approach which calls in question the interpretation and validity of their findings.