Abstract
The applicability of 5 conventional guidelines for construct measurement is critically examined: (a) Construct indicators should be internally consistent for valid measures, (b) there are optimal magnitudes of correlations between items, (c) the validity of measures depends on the adequacy with which a specified domain is sampled, (d) within-construct correlations must be greater than between-construct correlations, and (e) linear composites of indicators can replace latent variables. A structural equation perspective is used, showing that without an explicit measurement model relating indicators to latent variables and measurement errors, none of these conventional beliefs hold without qualifications. Moreover, a causal indicator model is presented that sometimes better corresponds to the relation of indicators to a construct than does the classical test theory effect indicator model.
Keywords
Structural equation modelingPerspective (graphical)PsychologyEconometricsCognitive psychologySocial psychologyStatisticsComputer scienceMathematicsArtificial intelligence
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Publication Info
- Year
- 1991
- Type
- article
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 305-314
- Citations
- 3332
- Access
- Closed
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Cite This
Kenneth A. Bollen,
Richard D. Lennox
(1991).
Conventional wisdom on measurement: A structural equation perspective..
Psychological Bulletin
, 110
(2)
, 305-314.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.2.305
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1037/0033-2909.110.2.305