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A Research Synthesis of Validation Practices Used to Evaluate the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)

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Validity and Validation in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 54))

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine validation practice with a single, well-known, and widely used measure, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al. J Personal Assess 49:71–75, 1985). A comprehensive list of 35 articles from 1985 to 2012 was identified using PsycINFO. Using the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA et al. Standards for educational and psychological testing. American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC, 1999), each of 46 studies was coded for sources of reliability evidence and five sources of validation evidence. The majority of validation studies involved translated versions of the SWLS. SWLS validation studies tended to focus on internal consistency reliability, internal structure, and convergent validity evidence. No test content or consequences of testing validation sources of evidence were presented. Overall, reliability and internal structure procedures tended to be well-reported. Critically, a greater understanding is needed of relations to other variables evidence and how to both interpret and report it.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Henceforth referred to as The Standards.

  2. 2.

    The total number of articles do not sum to 25 as one article included a new translation in one language and presumably a pre-existing version in another language.

  3. 3.

    Three studies were contained within a single article wherein the author conducted reliability analyses on three different samples.

  4. 4.

    The focus of this methodological article was on describing steps to identify essential unidimensionality that could be used with either EFA or CFA. SWLS data were used as an example. Because it was unclear as to whether the researchers actually used CFA or EFA analyses with this data, this study was not included in the base rate counts in subsequent internal structure sections.

  5. 5.

    * indicates articles included in the validation synthesis

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education, The University of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Mary L. Chinni & Anita M. Hubley

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  1. Mary L. Chinni
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  2. Anita M. Hubley
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Correspondence to Anita M. Hubley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology (MERM) Program, Department of Educational and Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Bruno D. Zumbo

  2. Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology (MERM) Program Department of Educational and Counseling, Psychology, and Special Education, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Eric K.H. Chan

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Chinni, M.L., Hubley, A.M. (2014). A Research Synthesis of Validation Practices Used to Evaluate the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). In: Zumbo, B., Chan, E. (eds) Validity and Validation in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 54. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07794-9_4

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