Health Measurement Scales: A Practical Guide to Their Development and Use

by David L. Streiner (Author), Geoffrey R. Norman (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $3.25

  The increased awareness of the impact of health care on the quality of human life means that clinical researchers working in a wide spectrum of disciplines need information about soft measures such as pain, depression, or function. A sound, scientific, and reproducible system of measurement is required by clinicians and researchers in disciplines such as psychiatry, rheumatology, oncology and other health professions such as nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Based on a graduate course developed by the authors at McMaster University, this book describes the principles of measurement, developed in education and psychology, for a health sciences audience. The book discusses both traditional topics in measurement, eg item selection and reliability, and contemporary topics such as generalizability theory and latent tract theory, covering all the steps necessary in developing a new measurement scale, from the initial literature search to the design and analysis of reliability and validity studies. Many of the standard topics are addressed using a minimum of algebra and technical vocabulary. Although the examples are drawn from health sciences, the book should also be useful to all students of measurement in the social and behavioural sciences.

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $4.36

  Clinicians and those in health sciences are frequently called upon to measure subjective states such as attitudes, feelings, quality of life, educational achievement and aptitude, and learning style in their patients. This fourth edition of Health Measurement Scales enables these groups, who often have limited knowledge of statistics, to both develop scales to measure non-tangible health outcomes, and better evaluate and differentiate between existing tools. It covers how the individual items are developed; various biases that can affect responses (eg social desirability, yea-saying, framing); various response options; how to select the best items in the set; how to combine them into a scale; and then how to determine the reliability and validity of the scale. It concludes with a discussion of ethical issues that may be encountered, and guidelines for reporting the results of the scale development process. Appendices include a comprehensive guide to finding existing scales, and a brief introduction to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. It synthesizes the theory of scale construction with practical advice, making it the ultimate guide to how to develop and validate measurement scales that are to be used in the health sciences.