Geoffrey R. Norman

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.

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 fifth edition of Health Measurement Scales enables these groups to both develop scales to measure non-tangible health outcomes, and better evaluate and differentiate between existing tools. Health Measurement Scales is the ultimate guide to developing and validating measurement scales that are to be used in the health sciences. The book covers how the individual items are developed; various biases that can affect responses (e.g. 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 finally 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, making this book a must-read for any practitioner dealing with this kind of data.