Conventional wisdom on measurement: A structural equation perspective.
Abstract
The applicability of 5 conventional guidelines for construct measurement is critically examined: (a) Construct indicators should be internally consistent for valid measures, (b) there are optimal magnitudes of correlations between items, (c) the validity of measures depends on the adequacy with which a specified domain is sampled, (d) within-construct correlations must be greater than between-construct correlations, and (e) linear composites of indicators can replace latent variables. A structural equation perspective is used, showing that without an explicit measurement model relating indicators to latent variables and measurement errors, none of these conventional beliefs hold without qualifications. Moreover, a causal indicator model is presented that sometimes better corresponds to the relation of indicators to a construct than does the classical test theory effect indicator model.
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The psychometric independence of cultural conflict and distance suggests that they are formative (causal) rather than reflective (effect) indicators of BII.
“the psychometric independence of cultural conflict and distance suggests that they are formative (i.e., causal) rather than reflective (i.e., effect) indicators of BII (Bollen & Lennox, 1991).”
From Bicultural Identity Integration (BII): Components and Psychosocial Antecedents (2005) · cites this paper as Bollen & Lennox, 1991
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- Authors
- Bollen, K., & Lennox, R.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- ORCID
- Bollen, Kenneth
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 1991-09
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 305-314
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W1980996468
- Cited by
- 3,618
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 216 · 2025: 116 · 2024: 104 · 2023: 123 · 2022: 116 · 2021: 145 · 2020: 113 · 2019: 126 · 2018: 163 · 2017: 139 · 2016: 161 · 2015: 174 · 2014: 168 · 2013: 179 · 2012: 193
- FWCI
- 12.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- construct measurement, measurement validity, internal consistency, item correlation, latent variables, measurement error, classical test theory, structural equation modeling
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