Health Measurement Scales: A practical guide to their development and use

by David L. Streiner, Geoffrey R. Norman, John Cairney

Overview

Health Measurement Scales is the ultimate guide to appraising, developing, and validating measurement scales that are used in the health sciences. Written in a clear and practical style, this guide enables clinicians and researchers to both develop scales to measure subjective states and non-tangible health outcomes, as well as evaluate and differentiate among existing tools.

Topics presented in the order that scales are constructed: how the individual items are developed, biases that can affect responses, various response options, how to select the best items in the set, how to combine them into a scale; and finally how to determine the reliability and validity of the scale.

Fully updated to reflect recent developments in the field and the latest survey methods. The new edition contains updated information on generalizability theory and item response theory, and integration of qualitative research methods into scale design and testing. Including guidelines, appendices and checklists, this useful book is a must-read for any practitioner dealing with any kind of subjective measurement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192869487
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/29/2024
Edition description:	6th ed.
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David L. Streiner, Director, Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit, Assistant Vice-President, Research, Baycrest Centre, and Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Canada,Geoffrey R. Norman, Assistant Dean, Program for Educational Research and Development, and Professor, Department Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Canada,John Cairney, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Canada

David Steiner is a clinical psychologist by training, and currently a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, both at McMaster University. David is a Senior Scientific Editor of Health Reports, and sits on the editorial boards of four other journals. He has written or edited 9 books, in the areas of statistics, epidemiology, public health, and measurement theory; and have published over 350 articles in these and other areas. David's main interests are quality of life in people with various medical conditions, scale development, research design, treatment of the homeless mentally ill, and woodworking.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to health measurement scales2. Basic concepts3. Devising the items4. Scaling responses5. Selecting the items6. Biases in responding7. From items to scales8. Reliability9. Generalizability theory10. Validity11. Measuring change12. Item response theory13. Methods of administration14. Ethical considerations15. Reporting test results

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Michalene A King, PhD, RN, CNE (Robert Morris University)
Description: This book is described as a guide to developing and validating measurement instruments. The previous edition was published in 2008.
Purpose: The intent is to introduce researchers in health sciences to concepts of measurement. This is a worthy objective, which the book meets.
Audience: The audience is students and clinicians in the health sciences. The authors feel it is appropriate for persons using surveys, questionnaires, or any kind of subjective measurement. This edition adds a third author. All the authors are credible authorities.
Features: The book begins with an introduction and a description of basic concepts of measurement. Chapters describe the process of developing measurement instruments and cover validity, reliability, and generalizability. The book concludes with chapters on administration, reporting of results, and ethical considerations. Appendix A, "Where to Find Tests," contains a wealth of information about available instruments.
Assessment: This is comparable to most research books, with similar content. It contains many statistical calculations to better explain the information presented. The authors justify this update by explaining that the changes are based on readers' comments on the previous edition. Similarly, the authors encourage readers of this edition to submit suggestions and feedback.

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