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Boateng GO, Neilands TB, Frongillo EA, et al. Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer. Front Public Health. 2018;6:149doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149.
Boateng, G. O., Neilands, T. B., Frongillo, E. A., Melgar-Quiñonez, H. R., & Young, S. L. (2018). Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer. Frontiers in public health, 6149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149
Boateng, Godfred O, et al. "Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer." Frontiers in public health vol. 6 (2018): 149. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149
Boateng GO, Neilands TB, Frongillo EA, Melgar-Quiñonez HR, Young SL. Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer. Front Public Health. 2018 Jun 11;6:149. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149. eCollection 2018. PMID: 29942800; PMCID: PMC6004510.
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Front Public Health. 2018 Jun 11;6:149. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149. eCollection 2018.

Best Practices for Developing and Validating Scales for Health, Social, and Behavioral Research: A Primer.

Frontiers in public health

Godfred O Boateng, Torsten B Neilands, Edward A Frongillo, Hugo R Melgar-Quiñonez, Sera L Young

Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Global Health, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States.
  2. Division of Prevention Science, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
  3. Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States.
  4. Institute for Global Food Security, School of Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
  5. Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States.

PMID: 29942800 PMCID: PMC6004510 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149

Abstract

Scale development and validation are critical to much of the work in the health, social, and behavioral sciences. However, the constellation of techniques required for scale development and evaluation can be onerous, jargon-filled, unfamiliar, and resource-intensive. Further, it is often not a part of graduate training. Therefore, our goal was to concisely review the process of scale development in as straightforward a manner as possible, both to facilitate the development of new, valid, and reliable scales, and to help improve existing ones. To do this, we have created a primer for best practices for scale development in measuring complex phenomena. This is not a systematic review, but rather the amalgamation of technical literature and lessons learned from our experiences spent creating or adapting a number of scales over the past several decades. We identified three phases that span nine steps. In the first phase, items are generated and the validity of their content is assessed. In the second phase, the scale is constructed. Steps in scale construction include pre-testing the questions, administering the survey, reducing the number of items, and understanding how many factors the scale captures. In the third phase, scale evaluation, the number of dimensions is tested, reliability is tested, and validity is assessed. We have also added examples of best practices to each step. In sum, this primer will equip both scientists and practitioners to understand the ontology and methodology of scale development and validation, thereby facilitating the advancement of our understanding of a range of health, social, and behavioral outcomes.

Keywords: content validity; factor analysis; item reduction; psychometric evaluation; scale development; tests of dimensionality; tests of reliability; tests of validity

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