In search of content validity: facet analysis as a qualitative method to improve questionnaire design

In this paper, two scales are examined for the measurement of self-regulation. The item content is evaluated for its specific usefulness for measuring self-regulation of obesity patients. Qualitative facet analysis (QFA), an application of Guttmann’s Facet Theory, is used to investigate whether item content sufficiently covers the intended content area. This form of content analysis constitutes a systematic, effective and critical tool for improving the content validity of questionnaires. It discovers topics that are underrepresented or overrepresented. The method offers a way to clarify the relationship between concrete item phrases and the desired content as defined by construct and theory. It allows the researcher to improve his or her understanding of the items as a stimulus and of the similarities of items, and allows the formulation of a possible structure for confirmative factor analysis. Various ways to improve the content of both scales are identified.     

How to develop a customer satisfaction scale with optimal construct validity

In this article, we investigate how to construct a customer satisfaction (CS) scale which yields optimally valid measurements of the construct of interest. For this purpose we compare three alternative methodologies for scale development and construct validation. Furthermore, we discuss a satisfaction measurement application which is consistent with Messick’s (in: Linn (ed.) Educational measurement, 1989) construct validity theory. Following the deductive design for test development and construct validation, a multi-item measure for CS with a retail bank was developed. The measure was applied in survey research ( \(N\)  = 1,689) within a Dutch retail bank. The items constituted a unidimensional scale, allowing the computation of scale scores. The tests of 11 hypotheses about scale-score characteristics demonstrated that the scale score represented the construct of CS well. Furthermore, the one-factor theory (e.g. Yi, in: Zeithaml (ed.) Review of marketing, 1990) of satisfaction/dissatisfaction was confirmed. An implication of this result is that satisfaction/dissatisfaction can be measured on one scale instead of two scales, one for satisfaction and one for dissatisfaction. The results demonstrate that the deductive design is an appropriate methodology for measure development and construct validation in applied psychological research. The article concludes that the multi-item measure is well-suited for CS measurement in retail banking and that customized satisfaction scales have advantages but also disadvantages compared to standardized scales.     

The construction and initial validation of a measure of expatriate job performance

Based on Campbell's (1990, Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2nd ed., Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 687–732) multi-factorial model of job performance, the Expatriate Performance Scales were developed to measure components of expatriate performance. Item generation for the scales was informed by job performance theory, content analysis of interviews with expatriates and item sorting by subject matter experts. The scales (48 items) were administered to 106 Australian expatriates in the Special Administrative Regions of China. Data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis as well as tests for criterion, convergent and discriminant validity. These procedures resulted in 32 items measuring an amended model of expatriate performance with six components: task performance, communication performance, demonstrating effort, maintaining personal discipline, team and leadership performance and management and administration performance. Results provide initial psychometric evidence of criterion, convergent and discriminant validity.     

Augmenting the use of the Rasch model under time constraints

This paper proposes a method for estimating national standardizations of partially speeded tests composed of items from a previously standardized item bank. The model combines two submodels, one for whether the examinee reaches the item, and the second for whether she is successful if she does reach it. The former model is comparable to that for survival analysis using item position in test as a quasi-time parameter (Hutchison 1988). The latter is a straightforward Rasch Model. Combining the two submodels allows for the possibility that ability and drop-out were correlated. The model proposed here is superior that of Bolt et al. (2002), which divides the population into a speeded and a non-speeded group, in that it allows for a range of speededness effects. The model is tested using three UK national standardizations on one outcome and comparing the actual and predicted distributions. It is suggested that the observed discrepancies may be due to differences in the samples drawn, and that in some circumstances the model may actually produce a better estimate than an actual standardization exercise.     

装备保障站点维修工作动态优化调度算法研究

对于典型的装备多级保障体系,一个上级站点通常承担了多个下级站点的故障件维修工作,因此装备保障站点维修工作的调度,对站点的保障效率有着明显的影响。在分析了故障件维修工作的优先级、故障件维修时间、装备系统故障程度、站点需求状况以及维修资源等各方面的影响后,提出了一种维修工作动态优化调度算法;建立了保障体系的仿真模型用于实现算法,然后对算法进行了实例分析,结果表明动态优化调度算法对于提高站点的保障效率、降低保障系统维修资源需求有较好的作用。     

Host country nationals' attitudes toward expatriates: development of a measure†

A measure assessing host country nationals' (HCNs) perceptions of attitudes and behaviors of the expatriates (ATEX) was developed and validated in two studies. For the first study, interviews were conducted to generate items. A questionnaire involving these items was filled out by 198 HCNs and 26 items were eliminated. For the second study, 228 HCNs filled out a questionnaire that included ATEX and scales for constructs such as personality and attitudes toward diversity. Final version of ATEX was reduced to 24 items loading onto five factors. Examination of the relations between ATEX and several constructs provided support for construct and criterion-related validities of the measure.     

校企合作,加强铁路职业技能鉴定试题库建设

职业技能鉴定考核是国家推广职业资格证书的重要环节,建设职业技能鉴定题库有利于推动职业技能鉴定工作的发展。校企合作,铁路高职院校参与到职业技能鉴定题库建设中,是实施职业技能鉴定的重要保证,对题库的建设能提供非常重要的支持和帮助。     

Mokken scale analysis for polychotomous items: theory,a computer program and an empirical application

This paper contains three subjects. First, an extension of Mokken's nonparametric item response models from dichotomous items to items with two or more ordered answer categories is proposed. Second, a computer program to analyze multicategory item scores is presented. This program is called MSP. The analyses by means of MSP are based on the multicategory extension of Mokken's theory. Finally, an application of MSP to empirical multicategory test data is presented in order to illuminate its possibilities.     

Systemic risk and bank business models

In this paper, we decompose banks' systemic risk into two dimensions: the risk of a bank (“bank tail risk”) and the link of the bank to the system in financial distress (“systemic linkage”). Based on extreme value theory, we estimate a systemic risk measure that can be decomposed into two subcomponents reflecting these dimensions. Empirically, we assess the relationships of bank business models to the two dimensions of systemic risk. The observed differences in these relationships partly explain why micro‐ and macroprudential perspectives sometimes have different implications for banking regulation.     

Job satisfaction and organizational commitment: validating the Arabic satisfaction and commitment questionnaire (ASCQ), testing the correlations,and investigating the effects of demographic variables in the Lebanese banking sector

The aim of this study was to assess the construct validity and the reliability of two measurement scores of organizational commitment and job satisfaction, to measure the correlation between the two variables, and to explore the effects of different demographic variables on satisfaction and commitment in a Lebanese context. A total of 298 cases from five major banks were analyzed. Rigorous forward and backward translation procedures have been applied to ensure the relevance of this instrumentation in a different cultural context. Results of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, simple item-internal consistency estimates, and item intercorrelation analysis provided evidence that both instruments have produced reliable measurement scores with construct validity adequate to measure satisfaction and commitment in the Lebanese context. Results also showed that the constructs of satisfaction and commitment were significantly correlated and that satisfaction was a good predictor of commitment. Demographic analysis, discussion of these results, and suggestions for future research were proposed.     

A comparison of multiple imputation with EM algorithm and MCMC method for quality of life missing data

This study investigated the performance of multiple imputations with Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm and Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) method in missing data imputation. We compared the accuracy of imputation based on some real data and set up two extreme scenarios and conducted both empirical and simulation studies to examine the effects of missing data rates and number of items used for imputation. In the empirical study, the scenario represented item of highest missing rate from a domain with fewest items. In the simulation study, we selected a domain with most items and the item imputed has lowest missing rate. In the empirical study, the results showed there was no significant difference between EM algorithm and MCMC method for item imputation, and number of items used for imputation has little impact, either. Compared with the actual observed values, the middle responses of 3 and 4 were over-imputed, and the extreme responses of 1, 2 and 5 were under-represented. The similar patterns occurred for domain imputation, and no significant difference between EM algorithm and MCMC method and number of items used for imputation has little impact. In the simulation study, we chose environmental domain to examine the effect of the following variables: EM algorithm and MCMC method, missing data rates, and number of items used for imputation. Again, there was no significant difference between EM algorithm and MCMC method. The accuracy rates did not significantly reduce with increase in the proportions of missing data. Number of items used for imputation has some contribution to accuracy of imputation, but not as much as expected.     

Identifying Optimal Items in Quality of Life Assessment

Quality of life has drawn increasing attention in health science and more efforts have been devoted to develop instruments that are valid and reliable to assess quality of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) has devised an instrument World Health Organization Quality of Life Survey- Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF) to assess quality of life, but the psychometric property of each individual item has not been studied yet. Using item response theory, we examine the properties of the WHOQOL-BRIEF Taiwan version. Samejima’s graded response model was fitted, and item parameters were calculated. The items were ranked base on their discrimination power, and the best items are identified. Several data with subset of items (22, 20, 18, 16 and 14 items) were created by omitting items with lower discrimination power. The test information function of the full questionnaire and the subsets were compared. The results showed there were significant positive correlations between the full questionnaire and the subsets of items and the distributions are similar. The test information function showed the maximum amount of test information spaced over two ends of the theta continuum, and this suggested that the WHOQOL-BREF provided more information for groups with either lower or higher satisfaction of quality of life, while it is less discriminating for individuals in the middle range.     

Organizational Task Environments: An Evaluation of Convergent and Discriminant Validity*

ABSTRACT The organizational task environment (OTE) construct is evaluated using a large, independent sample. A general measurement model for three latent variables, munificence, dynamism and complexity is constructed for confirmatory factor analysis. This model is then tested for both convergent and discriminant validity using a multitrait‐multimethod matrix approach. The OTE model in this study demonstrates convergent validity, but it does not exhibit discriminant validity. The results of this study do not provide support for one of the key components of construct validity. Measurement issues are discussed, as well as the implications of this study for the organizational theory and strategic management disciplines.     

The development of a work-value model assessing the cumulative impact of individual and cultural differences on managers' work-value systems: empirical evidence from French and British managers

This study is the first attempt in Europe to develop an analytical model, based on multidimensional scaling and regression analysis, which enables the operationalization of cultural concepts related to the work context at both the individual and cultural levels of analysis. The development of the model consists of adapting Schwartz's motivational theory of human values (1992, 1994, 1999) to the work context by testing his theory on the domain of work-values and social behaviour in the workplace. For this purpose, two new questionnaires were developed: 1) a new work-value questionnaire based on both Schwartz's and Hofstede's conceptual frameworks – the purpose of this questionnaire was to enable the assessment of the cumulative impact of both cultural and individual differences, and 2) a new Communication Style Questionnaire which enabled us to establish the cross-cultural validity at the behavioural level of the newly developed workvalue dimensions. The model was empirically tested with a population of French and British managers from two different sectors, bank/insurance and pharmaceutical/healthcare organizations. This was done so that the impact of organizational culture differences could be controlled. In total more than 2,500 questionnaires were collected for statistical analysis. The final four work-value scales (Self-enhancement; Individual dynamics; Consideration for others; Group dynamics) elicited through rigorous five-step analysis successfully achieved the purpose of the model's development.     

Item response theory and the measurement of deprivation: evidence from Luxembourg data

Item response theory (IRT) has recently been proposed as a framework to measure deprivation. It allows a latent measure of deprivation to be derived from a set of dichotomous items indicating deprivation, and the determinants of deprivation to be analysed. We investigate further the use of IRT models in the field of deprivation measurement. First, the paper emphasises the importance of item selection and the Mokken Scale Procedure is applied to select the items to be included in the scale of deprivation. Second, we apply the one- and the two-parameter probit IRT models for dichotomous items to two different sets of items, in order to highlight different empirical results. Finally, we introduce a graphical tool, the Item Characteristic Curve (ICC), and analyse the determinants of deprivation in Luxembourg. The empirical illustration is based on the fourth wave of the “Liewen zu Lëtzebuerg” Luxembourg socioeconomic panel (PSELL-3).     

Factors affecting the variability of IRT equating coefficients

Knowing the effect of the factors that can influence the variability of the equating coefficients is an important tool for the development of the linkage plans. This paper explores the effect of various factors on the variability of item response theory equating coefficients. The factors studied are the sample size, the number of common items, the length of the chain, and the possibility of averaging the equating transformations related to different paths that connect the same two forms. Both asymptotic and simulations results are provided.     

基于二维关联边条件随机场的Web信息抽取

针对Web信息抽取领域中存在的"项无序"问题,提出了一种基于二维关联边条件随机场模型的Web信息抽取方法。将Web文档解析为一个词性序列,映射待抽取的信息项的状态,映射待抽取的信息项为二维关联边条件随机场中的序列参数,使用归纳算法构造二维关联边条件随机场模型。实验结果证明该方法可以获得更好的抽取性能。     

CANTILLON AND HUME ON MONEY AND BANKING: THE FOUNDATIONS OF TWO THEORETICAL TRADITIONS

The distinction between the ‘classical’ monetary theory and ‘quantity’ theory has been proposed in literature on money and banking. The overall feature of the classical theory of money is that it holds one principle of regulation for each kind of issue (metallic money, bank issues and paper money) whereas the quantity theory applied the causality and proportionality postulates for all kinds of monies. Without claiming to adjudicate the validity of such a distinction, the paper investigates the foundation of each tradition. In this respect, this paper, respectively, examines, and provides a survey of the secondary literature on, Cantillon's Essai and the Hume's Discourses.