D. Betsy McCoach

Robert K. Gable

John P. Madura

Whether the concept being studied is job satisfaction, self-efficacy, or student motivation, values and attitudes--affective characteristics--provide crucial keys to how individuals think, learn, and behave. And not surprisingly, as measurement of these traits gains importance in the academic and corporate worlds, there is an ongoing need for valid, scientifically sound instruments. For those involved in creating self-report measures, the completely updated Third Edition of Instrument Development in the Affective Domain balances the art and science of instrument development and evaluation, covering both its conceptual and technical aspects. The book is written to be accessible with the minimum of statistical background, and reviews affective constructs from a measurement standpoint. Examples are drawn from academic and business settings for insights into design as well as the relevance of affective measures to educational and corporate testing. This systematic analysis of all phases of the design process includes: Measurement, scaling, and item-writing techniques. Validity issues: collecting evidence based on instrument content. Testing the internal structure of an instrument: exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Measurement invariance and other advanced methods for examining internal structure. Strengthening the validity argument: relationships to external variables. Addressing reliability issues. As a graduate course between covers and an invaluable professional tool, the Third Edition of Instrument Design in the Affective Domain will be hailed as a bedrock resource by researchers and students in psychology, education, and the social sciences, as well as human resource professionals in the corporate world.

School and Corporate Applications

Instrument Development in the Affective Domain

Marian B. Wolf

There has been longstanding interest in affective characteristics in both educational and corporate environments. While each domain has produced its own set of theorists and researchers, the work of some, such as Bandura, has found a place in the literature of both areas. In each of these settings, theorists and researchers have agreed on the causal connections between such constructs as self-efficacy and perceived satisfaction and success, whether that success is measured by academic achievement or corporate quality and performance resulting in profitability. Along with this interest, comes the need for the development of valid and reliable instruments to assess affective characteristics. It is clear that no matter whether your interest lies in the relationship between self-efficacy and academic success or employee satisfaction and corporate success, it is essential that the instruments used be carefully designed and tested to assure that they are measuring what they are intended to measure in a consistent manner. This work offers the theoretical perspective, modern psychometric techniques, real examples, and data needed to enable the instrument developer to produce such valid and reliable instruments.

Robert K. Gable

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