Health Measurement Scales

• Assists the reader in how to develop and evaluate a scale, presenting steps in scale construction in a logical order
• Enables readers to both develop scales to measure non-tangible health outcomes, and better evaluate and choose among existing instruments
• Includes extensive discussion of the newer developments in scale development, in addition to more traditional methods
• Material in this book has been developed by the extensive experience of the authors in teaching this subject, developing scales, and on student and reader feedback.
• Written in an accessible style, making it suitable for those with no experience of statistics

New to this edition

• Heavily revised chapter on generalizability theory, that leads the reader through the logic of the technique, and includes instruction on using a new, free-access computer program to aid calcuation
• Includes a new chapter on Reporting Test Results, distilling both sets of guidelines that are currently in use across healthcare
• Differentiates between validity and validation, continuing discussion begun in the third edition, and taking these ideas to a logical conclusion
• All chapters have been updated to reflect current research and theory

Readership: Clinicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists involved in developing and using health scales, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

David L Streiner, Director, Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit; Assistant Vice-President, Research, Baycrest Centre; Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; and Professor Emeritus, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Canada, and Geoffrey R Norman, Assistant Dean, Program for Educational Research and Development, and Professor, Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Canada

"This book is a useful resource that should have a fairly broad appeal for researchers needing to develop new measurement scales, researchers who need to critically appraise literature concerned with measurement tools, and anyone interested in an accessible overview of important measurement issues and methods." - The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry

"The text is well laid out with chapters covering basic concepts, devising the items, scaling responses, methods of administration and ethical considerations being easy to read." - Occupational Medicine

"This is a book that can be used as a key reference book by those who wish to study qualitative change in health status by the use of scales." - Occupational Medicine

1: Introduction
2: Basic concepts
3: Devising the items
4: Scaling responses
5: Selecting the items
6: Biases in responding
7: From items to scales
8: Reliability
9: Generalizability theory
10: Validity
11: Measuring change
12: Item response theory
13: Methods of administration
14: Ethical considerations
15: Reporting test results
Appendices