Scale Development

Synonyms

Questionnaire development

Definition

Scale development is an essential stage in the assessment of constructs and variables in behavior medicine and in any social and health science. Scales are used for assessment of self-reported variables including mood, daily disability, various types of symptoms, adherence to recommended diet, etc. Though there is no explicit “rule” for the stages of scale development, certain steps need to be included for claiming that a scale is reliable and valid. The reliability of a scale is very important and refers to its repeatability and lack of measurement error. This is tested by internal reliability tests (Cronbach’s α) and by a test-retest reliability of scores over time. Validity is an essential aspect of a scale and refers to the extent to which it measures what it claims to measure. This is tested by several manners including “face validity,” concurrent validity, construct validity, and criterion validity. When developing a scale, it is...