The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development.
Abstract
A primary goal of scale development is to create a valid measure of an underlying construct. We discuss theoretical principles, practical issues, and pragmatic decisions to help developers maximize the construct validity of scales and subscales. First, it is essential to begin with a clear conceptualization of the target construct. Moreover, the content of the initial item pool should be overinclusive and item wording needs careful attention. Next, the item pool should be tested, along with variables that assess closely related constructs, on a heterogeneous sample representing the entire range of the target population. Finally, in selecting scale items, the goal is unidimensionality rather than internal consistency ; this means that virtually all interitem correlations should be moderate in magnitude. Factor analysis can play a crucial role in ensuring the unidimensionality and discriminant validity of scales.
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In the citing paper
“Furthermore, the intercorrelation between the two factors is .5, which also suggests that the two factors represent the same construct (Clark & Watson, 1995).”
From Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II: A Revised Measure of Psychological Inflexibility and Experiential Avoidance (2011) · cites this paper as Clark & Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“All items achieved values above the recommended 0.20, which makes it possible, despite the lower Cronbach’s alpha indices compared to the original version, to consider the MIS-PL a tool with acceptable reliability (Clark and Watson, 1995).”
From Psychometric Evaluation of the Polish Version of the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport (MIS-PL) (2024) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“An additional analysis of the item-total correlation matrix showed that all items achieved values above the recommended 0.20 (Clark and Watson, 1995).”
From Psychometric Evaluation of the Polish Version of the Mindfulness Inventory for Sport (MIS-PL) (2024) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“As the process of writing items for any self-report questionnaire requires authors to define or conceptualize the construct they are attempting to measure (Clark & Watson, 1995)”
From Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness (2006) · cites this paper as Clark & Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“The average inter-item correlation (0.20) was acceptable according to Clark and Watson (1995)”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
In the citing paper
“We chose these two tools, instead of traditional measures of internal consistency (i.e., Cronbach's Alpha [Cronbach, 1951] or KR-20 for dichotomous data [Kuder and Richardson, 1937]) because unlike traditional estimates which do not assess homogeneity (Cortina, 1993; Clark and Watson, 1995), omega and CFA, simultaneously provide estimates of both.”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“however the range of inter-item correlations (−0.07 to 0.36) still falls outside of their recommendations.”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
In the citing paper
“The average inter-item correlation, as well as the range of inter-item correlations, are outside the range recommended by Clark and Watson (1995) for sufficient internal consistency (recommended values range from 0.15 to 0.50).”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson, 1995
In the citing paper
“however the range of inter-item correlations (-0.07 to 0.59) still falls outside of their recommendation.”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
In the citing paper
“The average inter-item correlation (0.18) is acceptable according to Clark and Watson (1995)”
From A psychometric analysis of the reading the mind in the eyes test: toward a brief form for research and applied settings (2015) · cites this paper as Clark and Watson (1995)
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“Some authors suggested 10 participants for each item (Nunnally, 1994), or at least 300 respondents after initial pre-testing (Clark & Watson, 1995), or a sample size of 500 is generally considered very good while 1000 and above is excellent for all scales (Comrey & Lee, 2013).”
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“Only the refocusing subscale achieved the minimum value (0.70) generally considered acceptable (Clark and Watson, 1995; Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Clark, L. A., & Watson, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Assessment
- Published
- 1995-09
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 309-319
- ISSN
- 1040-3590 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-134X
- OpenAlex
- W2005364767
- Cited by
- 6,567
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 393 · 2025: 319 · 2024: 313 · 2023: 343 · 2022: 337 · 2021: 455 · 2020: 420 · 2019: 404 · 2018: 432 · 2017: 359 · 2016: 357 · 2015: 352 · 2014: 353 · 2013: 269 · 2012: 248
- FWCI
- 18.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Assessment (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Health Education and Validation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- construct validity, scale development, item pool, item wording, unidimensionality, internal consistency, factor analysis, discriminant validity, subscales, construct conceptualization
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