IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/101714.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Reliability, Validity and Uni-Dimensionality: A Primer

Author

Listed:
  • Pillai N., Vijayamohanan
  • A., Rjumohan

Abstract

Though measurement theory has traditionally got full attention and appreciation in scientific researches, its service in social sciences is young in years. Most of the popular definitions of measurement refer only to measuring objects or events in science; however, the phenomena to be measured in social sciences are mostly abstract ones, unobservable, latent, variables. Measurement in social sciences is hence to seek to construct these latent variables from aggregation of relevant observable items of questions or rating scale items in an interview questionnaire. These constructs are interpreted as manifestations of abstract traits. A number of criteria have come up to test the feasibility of this interpretation such as reliability, validity, uni-dimensionality, etc. The present paper seeks to present a primer on these three criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Pillai N., Vijayamohanan & A., Rjumohan, 2020. "Reliability, Validity and Uni-Dimensionality: A Primer," MPRA Paper 101714, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:101714
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/101714/1/MPRA_paper_101714.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Suzanne Slocum-Gori & Bruno Zumbo, 2011. "Assessing the Unidimensionality of Psychological Scales: Using Multiple Criteria from Factor Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 443-461, July.
    2. Louis Guttman, 1954. "Some necessary conditions for common-factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 19(2), pages 149-161, June.
    3. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    4. Melvin Novick & Charles Lewis, 1967. "Coefficient alpha and the reliability of composite measurements," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 32(1), pages 1-13, March.
    5. G. Kuder & M. Richardson, 1937. "The theory of the estimation of test reliability," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 2(3), pages 151-160, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yoo, Sun-Young & Vonk, M. Elizabeth, 2012. "The development and initial validation of the Immigrant Parental Stress Inventory (IPSI) in a sample of Korean immigrant parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 989-998.
    2. Siew Mooi Ching & Anne Yee & Vasudevan Ramachandran & Sazlyna Mohd Sazlly Lim & Wan Aliaa Wan Sulaiman & Yoke Loong Foo & Fan kee Hoo, 2015. "Validation of a Malay Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale among Medical Students in Malaysia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(10), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Cheng Chen & Susanne Weyland & Julian Fritsch & Alexander Woll & Claudia Niessner & Alexander Burchartz & Steffen C. E. Schmidt & Darko Jekauc, 2021. "A Short Version of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale: Development and Psychometric Properties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Tatyana Netseva-Porcheva & Vasil Bozev, 2020. "Research on the Relation Between Company Pricing Objectives and Pricing Strategies," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 5, pages 99-123.
    5. Johanna Christina Neumann & Thomas Berger & Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, 2021. "Development of a Questionnaire to Measure the Perceived Injustice of People Who Have Experienced Violence in War and Conflict Areas: Perceived Injustice Questionnaire (PIQ)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Touza, Julia & Pérez-Alonso, Alicia & Chas-Amil, María L. & Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina, 2014. "Explaining the rank order of invasive plants by stakeholder groups," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 330-341.
    7. Nadarajah Sivathaasan & R. A. Chanaka Ushantha & Sivapalan Achchuthan, 2014. "Dimensions of supermarket service quality: A Sri Lankan perspective," Asian Journal of Empirical Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(7), pages 381-396, July.
    8. Klaas Sijtsma & Julius M. Pfadt, 2021. "Part II: On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha: Discussing Lower Bounds and Correlated Errors," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 86(4), pages 843-860, December.
    9. Riehl, Kevin & Kiesel, Florian & Schiereck, Dirk, 2022. "Political and Socioeconomic Factors That Determine the Financial Outcome of Successful Green Innovation," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 132099, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    10. Fundin, Anders & Bergquist, Bjarne & Eriksson, Henrik & Gremyr, Ida, 2018. "Challenges and propositions for research in quality management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 125-137.
    11. Tarkkonen, L. & Vehkalahti, K., 2005. "Measurement errors in multivariate measurement scales," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 172-189, September.
    12. Yi‐Chen Chiu & Yen‐Feng Chiu & Wen‐Chuin Hsu & Shwu‐Hua Lee & Sien‐Tsong Chen & Hui‐Yi Kao, 2010. "Developing a Chinese quality of life in dementia instrument for patients with early‐to‐moderate dementia: an exploratory test of validity," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(15‐16), pages 2174-2184, August.
    13. Kevin Riehl & Florian Kiesel & Dirk Schiereck, 2022. "Political and Socioeconomic Factors That Determine the Financial Outcome of Successful Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, March.
    14. Lillemo, Shuling Chen, 2014. "Measuring the effect of procrastination and environmental awareness on households' energy-saving behaviours: An empirical approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 249-256.
    15. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Knowledge Economy and Financial Sector Competition in African Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 333-346, June.
    16. Rodríguez-Fuentes, Carlos Javier & Hernández-López, Montserrat, 1997. "Análisis de diferencias estructurales interregionales determinantes en el impacto de la política monetaria," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 7, pages 141-157, Junio.
    17. Simplice A. Asongu & Vanessa S. Tchamyou & Ndemaze Asongu & Nina Tchamyou, 2018. "The Comparative African Economics of Governance in Fighting Terrorism," AFEA Working Papers 18/046, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA).
    18. Simplice A Asongu, 2013. "Modeling the future of knowledge economy: evidence from SSA and MENA countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 612-624.
    19. Xiangfei Yuan & Haijing Hao & Chenghua Guan & Alex Pentland, 2022. "Which factors affect the performance of technology business incubators in China? An entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, January.
    20. Orkhan Sariyev & Tim K. Loos & Manfred Zeller & Tulsi Gurung, 2020. "Women in household decision-making and implications for dietary quality in Bhutan," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Construct; Item; Reliability; validity; Uni-dimensionality; Factor Analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • C18 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Methodolical Issues: General
    • C80 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:101714. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.