No matter how strong the theoretical infrastructure of a study is, if the measurement instruments do not have the necessary psychometric qualities, there will be a question of trust in interpreting the findings, and it will be inevitable to make wrong decisions with the results. One of the important steps in scale development/adaptation studies is…

The measurement error in principal components extracted from a set of fallible measures is discussed and evaluated. It is shown that as long as one or more measures in a given set of observed variables contains error of measurement, so also does any principal component obtained from the set. The error variance in any principal component is shown…

Researchers often argue that the structural models of the constructs they study are relevant to clinicians. Unfortunately, few clinicians are able to translate the mathematically precise relationships between latent constructs and observed scores into information that can be usefully applied to individuals. Typically this means that when a new…

Results of empirical comparisons of an inferential model of order analysis with factor analytic models were reported for two sets of data. On the prestructured data set both order and factor analytic models returned its dimensions of length, width and height, but on the random data set the factor analytic models indicated the presence of…

High intercorrelations among the six subtests of the Pictorial Test of Intelligence raise questions regarding the construct validity of the instrument. A factor analysis was performed. A single factor with stable factor loadings emerged. (Author/JKS)

Path analyses of two multitrait-multimethod matrices are used as examples of the kind of information afforded by application of the technique. It is concluded that the technique should be of considerable aid to researchers who want to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity of their measures. (Author/CTM)

A stepwise canonical procedure, including two selection indices for variable deletion and a rule for stopping the iterative procedure, was derived as a method of selecting core variables from predictors and criteria. The procedure was applied to simulated data varying in the degree of built in structures in population correlation matrices, number…

Results of using multimethod factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis for the analysis of three multitrait-multimethod matrices are compared. Results suggest that the two methods can give quite different impressions of discriminant validity. In the examples considered, the former procedure tends to support discrimination while the latter…

Overall findings were interpreted from a developmental perspective, and the data were shown to offer evidence for the contruct validity of the MSCA. (Author/RC)

Methods for analyzing the multitrait-multimethod matrix are reviewed and the results of their application to a classic data set are compared. It is shown that different analysis methods can yield different validity conclusions, and that the results obtained are partly dependent on the subjective judgments of the users. (Author/RC)

Presents a series of analyses of Jackson's Personality Research Form items and scales to determine the apparent effects of the use of the differential validity index on more traditional item psychometric indices which have been used to reduce the confounding of trait scales and social desirability. (Author/RC)

The optimum weighting of variables to predict a dependent-criterion variable is an important problem in nearly all of the social and natural sciences. Although the predominant method, multiple regression analysis (MR), yields optimum weights for the sample at hand, these weights are not generally optimum in the population from which the sample was…

In this paper 12 blind transformation procedures are applied to 18 data sets. The results of the analyses indicate that the orthotran transformation solution is not restricted to particular types of data as are so many other transformation solutions. The evidence presented in this paper strongly suggests that the orthotran solution must be…

A multitrait-multimethod matrix containing two methods of measuring 12 personality traits was analyzed and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to the data. Although unexplained variance remained, method factors and a general personality factor significantly improved the fit of a model containing only trait factors. (Author/RL)