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Measurement Error and Research Design
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Measurement Error and Research Design

May 2005 | 456 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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Most books on measurement present a statistical orientation or an orientation toward measurement theory. Although these approaches are valuable, Measurement Error and Research Design is motivated by the lack of literature that enhances understanding of measurement error, its sources, and its effects on responses. This book's purpose is to enhance the design of research, both of measures and of methods.

Author Madhu Viswanathan's work is organized around the meaning of measurement error. It begins with a brief overview of measurement principles supplemented with many examples to provide necessary background to the reader. It analyzes the various causes of different types of measurement error, the nature of responses that would characterize each type of error, and the pattern of empirical outcomes that would be observed. This approach provides guidance in developing and editing items and measures and in designing methods before the fact. It is also perfect for using empirical results to redesign items, measures, and methods. Measurement is treated at a nuts-and-bolts level with concrete examples or errors and empirical procedures.

Richard Bagozzi
Foreword
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
1. WHAT IS MEASUREMENT?
Overview

 
What Is Measurement Error?

 
Overview of Traditional Measure Development Procedures

 
Conceptual and Operational Definitions

 
Domain Delineation

 
Measure Design and Item Generation

 
Internal Consistency Reliability

 
Test-Retest Reliability

 
Dimensionality - Exploratory Factor Analysis

 
Dimensionality - Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling

 
Validity

 
General Issues in Measurement

 
Summary

 
Appendices

 
 
2. WHAT IS MEASUREMENT ERROR?
Overview

 
Random Error

 
Systematic Error

 
Types of Random and Systematic Error

 
Illustrations of Measurement Error Through Error Patterns

 
Patterns of Responses in Measurement Error

 
Summary

 
Appendix

 
 
3. WHAT CAUSES MEASUREMENT ERROR?
Overview

 
Sources of Measurement Error

 
Taxonomy of Error Sources

 
Summary

 
 
4. CAN EMPIRICAL PROCEDURES PINPOINT TYPES OF
MEASUREMENT ERROR?
Overview

 
Internal Consistency Reliability Procedures

 
Test-Retest Reliability Procedures

 
Factor Analysis Procedures

 
Validity Tests

 
Summary

 
 
5. HOW CAN MEASUREMENT ERROR BE IDENTIFIED AND
CORRECTED FOR IN MEASURE DEVELOPMENT?
Overview

 
Guidelines for Identifying and Correcting For Error in Measure Development

 
Generic Issues in Designing Psychometric Tests

 
Item-to-Total Correlations (Internal Consistency Procedures)

 
Item Means

 
Test-Retest Correlations (Test-Retest Reliability)

 
Factor Loadings (Exploratory Factor Analysis)

 
Residuals (Confirmatory Factor Analysis)

 
Cross-Construct Correlations (Validity Tests)

 
Conditions of Future Use of Measures

 
Discussion

 
Summary

 
 
6. HOW CAN ERROR BE IDENTIFIED THROUGH INNOVATIVE DESIGN AND ANALYSES?
Overview

 
Using Internal Consistency and Test-Retest Reliability in Conjunction

 
Using Correlations Across Item-Level Correlations

 
Empirical Assessment of Item-Sequencing Effects

 
Summary

 
 
7. HOW DO MEASURES DIFFER?
Overview

 
Stimulus-Centered Versus Respondent-Centered Scales

 
Formative and Reflective Indicators of Constructs

 
Summary

 
 
8. WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF MEASURES AND MEASUREMENT
ACROSS VARIOUS DISCIPLINES?
Overview

 
Types of Measures

 
Types of Response Formats

 
Specific Examples of Scales From Different Disciplines

 
Cross-Cultural Measurement

 
Summary

 
 
9. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF UNDERSTANDING MEASUREMENT ERROR FOR RESEARCH DESIGN AND ANALYSIS?
Overview

 
Implications for Using Measures in Research Design

 
Implications for Using Structural Equation Modeling

 
Implications for Applied Research

 
Summary

 
 
10. HOW DOES MEASUREMENT ERROR AFFECT RESEARCH DESIGN?
Overview

 
Types of Research Designs

 
Measurement Error in Survey Designs

 
Measurement Error in Experimental Designs

 
Research Design and Measurement Error

 
Summary

 
Appendices

 
 
11. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF MEASUREMENT IN SCIENCE?
Overview

 
Assumptions of Measurement

 
Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research

 
Measuring the "Measurable"

 
From Physical to Psychological Measurement

 
Informal Measurement

 
Ethics in Measurement

 
Summary

 
 
12. WHAT ARE THE KEY PRINCIPLES AND GUIDING
ORIENTATIONS OF THIS BOOK?
Overview

 
Summary of Chapters

 
Implications for Measurement and Research Design

 
Summary of Orientations

 
 
References
 
Index
 
About the Author

"Dr. Viswanathan has made an important contribution to the array of books available on measurement. In his book, he calls the reader’s attention to types of errors encountered in measurement, how they are made, and most importantly, how researchers can go about identifying and eliminating them. If you are doing research, whether you are developing measures or using already developed measures, the information in this book will help you to understand how to investigate the limitations of the measures you work with."

Dennis L. Jackson
University of Windsor

"This book provides a useful systematic introduction to an important and neglected area, that of measurement error in the social sciences. It will prove valuable both to students studying this topic in courses, and to Ph.D. students and researchers starting to carry out social research under their own steam."

Dougal Hutchison
National Foundation for Educational Research

"A particular virtue of the book is the author's balanced perspective. He acknowledges the reductionism that too often accompanies our increasingly sophisticated research methods—the risk that as we learn more and more about narrower issues we will lose sight of the larger contexts in which they are embedded. Essential, too, in the author's view, is a receptive stance on the part of the researcher, who should maintain an openness to alternative theories, to different measures and methods, and to different interpretations of data."

Stefan Krug, Simmons College School of Social Work
Library & Information Science Research

"The principles and methods outlined in this text are likely to be useful and necessary to researchers who are developing new studies."                    

Holly E. R. Morrell
Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University

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