Measurement Theory and Applications for the Social Sciences

Which types of validity evidence should be considered when determining whether a scale is appropriate for a given measurement situation? What about reliability evidence? Using clear explanations illustrated by examples from across the social and behavioral sciences, this engaging text prepares students to make effective decisions about the selection, administration, scoring, interpretation, and development of measurement instruments. Coverage includes the essential measurement topics of scale development, item writing and analysis, and reliability and validity, as well as more advanced topics such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory, diagnostic classification models, test bias and fairness, standard setting, and equating. End-of-chapter exercises (with answers) emphasize both computations and conceptual understanding to encourage readers to think critically about the material. The companion website (www.guilford.com/bandalos-materials) provides annotated examples, syntax, and datasets in both SPSS and SAS (for most chapters), so that readers can redo the analyses in each chapter.

Deborah L. Bandalos, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Assessment and Measurement Doctoral Program in the Department of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University, where she teaches courses in exploratory factor analysis, measurement theory, and missing data methodologies. Her research areas include structural equation modeling and the effects of item wording changes in instrument development. Dr. Bandalos has published articles and book chapters in the areas of structural equation modeling, exploratory factor analysis, and item and scale development. She is an associate editor of Multivariate Behavioral Research and a past  associate editor of Structural Equation Modeling. In addition, Dr. Bandalos serves on the editorial boards of Psychological Methods and Applied Measurement in Education and holds leadership positions in Division 5 (Quantitative and Qualitative Methods) of the American Psychological Association and in the Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology.
 

 
I. Instrument Development and Analysis
1. Introduction
2. Norms and Standardized Scores
3. The Test Development Process
4. Writing Cognitive Items
5. Writing Noncognitive Items
6. Item Analysis for Cognitive and Noncognitive Items
II. Reliability and Validity
7. Introduction to Reliability and the Classical Test Theory Model
8. Methods of Assessing Reliability
9. Interrater Agreement and Reliability
10. Generalizability Theory
11. Validity
III. Advanced Topics in Measurement Theory
12. Exploratory Factor Analysis
13. Confirmatory Factor Analysis
14. Item Response Theory, with Christine E. DeMars
15. Diagnostic Classification Models, with Laine P. Bradshaw
16. Bias, Fairness, and Legal Issues in Testing
17. Standard Setting
18. Test Equating