Inter-item correlation frequency distribution analysis: a method for evaluating scale dimensionality
Abstract
Briggs and Cheek (1986) have suggested that the mean of inter-item correlations for a scale provides information about whether that scale is unidimensional or not. More information about the dimensionality of a scale is provided by the frequency distribution function of inter-item correlations. A method of examining the frequency distribution functions as a way of inferring dimensionality is described and illustrated. Using data from the NEO Personality Inventory, the method is employed to distinguish between uni- and multidimensional scales. This method represents a useful first step in data description that can orient a researcher to the kinds of qualities that underlie a scale.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The pattern of inter-item correlations suggests that more than one factor might underlie the Eyes Test.
“This pattern of correlations suggest that more than one factor might underlie the Eyes Test (Piedmont and Hyland, 1993; see Figure 1 for the distribution of correlations and Table A2 in Supplementary Materials for the full correlation matrix).”
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 Piedmont and Hyland, 1993
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Olderbak, S., Wilhelm, O., Olaru, G., Geiger, M., Brenneman, M. W., & Roberts, R. D. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01503 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
- Authors
- Piedmont, R. L., & Hyland, M. E.
- Affiliations
- Loyola College (IN)
- Polytechnic South West
- Venue
- Educational and Psychological Measurement
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1993-06
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 369-378
- ISSN
- 0013-1644 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3888
- OpenAlex
- W2065640137
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational and Psychological Measurement (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- scale dimensionality, inter-item correlation, unidimensionality, multidimensional scale, NEO Personality Inventory, personality assessment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
