Measurement Development and Evaluation

Abstract

Psychological measurement is at the heart of organizational research. I review recent practices in the area of measurement development and evaluation, detailing best practice recommendations in both of these areas. Throughout the article, I stress that theory and discovery should guide scale development and that statistical tools, although they play a crucial role, should be chosen to best evaluate the theoretical underpinnings of scales as well as to best promote discovery. I review all stages of scale development and evaluation, ranging from construct specification and item writing, to scale revision. Different statistical frameworks are considered, including classical test theory, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory, and I encourage readers to consider how best to use each of these tools to capitalize on each approach's particular strengths.