A common way to form scores from multiple-item scales is to sum responses of all items.
Though sum scoring is often contrasted with factor analysis as a competing method, we�…

Abstract Commentary in Widaman and Revelle argued that sum scoring is justified as long
as unidimensionality holds because sum score reliability is defined. My response begins�…

Measurement is fundamental to all research in psychology and should be accorded greater
scrutiny than typically occurs. Among other claims, McNeish and Wolf (Thinking twice about�…

In this chapter, we provide an overview of issues related to reliability and validity, and
provide explicit recommendations for creating and using short forms in behavioral science�…

A challenge facing nearly all studies in the psychological sciences is how to best combine
multiple items into a valid and reliable score to be used in subsequent modeling. The most�…

An alternative strategy for computing factor scores was introduced and compared to a
popular contemporary scoring procedure. The new strategy involved unit-weighted�…

Scale builders strive to maximize dual priorities: validity and reliability. While the literature is
full of tips for increasing one, the other, or both simultaneously, how to navigate tensions�…

The Understanding Research series focuses on the process of writing up social research.
The series is broken down into three categories: Understanding Statistics, Understanding�…

Measurement in the social sciences often refers to standardized answers to close-ended
questions, in which answers are analyzed as if they were measurements on an interval�…

Which types of validity evidence should be considered when determining whether a scale is
appropriate for a given measurement situation? What about reliability evidence? Using clear�…