Health Measurement Scales

Review

From reviews of the previous edition:

`... explains apparently complex issues to an uninformed audience. At the same time the authors avoid oversimplifying the basics.' The Lancet

`It fills a notable gap in the literature... it provides a very comprehensive and readable introduction.' British Journal of Psychiatry

Book Description

This is the new edition of the highly successful practical guide for clinicians developing tools to measure subjective states, attitudes or non-tangible outcomes in their patients. It is widely used by people from many disciplines, who have only a limited knowledge of statistics. This thoroughly updated edition of Health Measurement Scales, Third Edition gives more details on cognitive requirements in answering questions, and how this influences scale development. There is now an expanded discussion of generalizability theory, a completely revised chapter on Item Response Theory and many revisions are included, based on the latest research findings. These features combine to provide the most up-to-date guide to measuring scale development available. It synthesizes the theory of scale construction with practical advice, culled from the literature and the authors' experience, about how to develop and validate measurement scales to be used in the health sciences. The theory goes into issues of reliability, generalizability theory, validity, the measurement of change, the cognitive requirements of answering questions, and item response theory. Practical issues cover devising the items, biases that may affect the responses, pre-testing and weeding out poorly performing items, combining items into scales, setting cut points, and the practical issues of using scales in various ways, such as face-to-face interviews; mailed or telephone-administered surveys; and over the internet. One chapter also discusses some of the ethical issues that scale developers and users should be aware of. Appendices lead the reader to other readings; sources of already developed scales and items; and a very brief introduction to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Simple .......but yet comprehensive, June 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Health Measurement Scales: A Practical Guide to Their Development and Use (Oxford Medical Publications) (Paperback)

This is undoubtedly, one of the best books I have read in this area. The authors follow an appropriate sequence in terms of addressing scale development, testing and analyses issues. The best thing about the book is that it is really easy to comprehend and covers all the important areas. I feel it is a "must buy" for professionals in the area of health-related quality of life and outcomes research. Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

very nice book, excellent practical advice, February 14, 2008

By J. Verkuilen (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

I really like this book and wish that I'd found out about it before my psychometrics class in the spring started, because I would have assigned it in a heartbeat. It's got a lot of the kind of practical advice that anyone thinking of creating a scale REALLY needs to hear first, including the #1 bit of advice: Should you make one yourself? For instance, excellent summaries of the work on scale usage biases by Jon Krosnick, Norbert Schwartz, etc., give useful cautionary information for scale constructors. I have a few disagreements---some of the advice about procedures such as some of the scaling methods they mention is out of date, for instance---but this is the sort of thing an expert in the field might disagree with. It certainly doesn't detract from the value of the book overall and I've learned a bunch I didn't know reading it. It'll be on the syllabus next time! Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

Best option, March 9, 2007

By Leonardo O. Costa "Leo Costa" (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This book is definally the best one in the field, it is clear and provides all information about psychometry. Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)