Scoring and Modeling Psychological Measures in the Presence of Multidimensionality

Confirmatory factor analytic studies of psychological measures showing item responses to be multidimensional do not provide sufficient guidance for applied work. Demonstrating that item response data are multifactorial in this way does not necessarily (a) mean that a total scale score is an inadequate indicator of the intended construct, (b) demand creating and scoring subscales, or (c) require specifying a multidimensional measurement model in research using structural equation modeling (SEM). To better inform these important decisions, more fine-grained psychometric analyses are necessary. We describe 3 established, but seldom used, psychometric approaches that address 4 distinct questions: (a) To what…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Education
• UO
  University of Newcastle Australia
• IO
  Institute of Education Sciences