Psychometric instrument

If you want a more sophisticated way to determine cognitive style, use the Kirton Adaption-Innovation (KAI) Inventory, a highly validated and reliable psychometric instrument developed by psychologist Dr. Michael Kirton. Available at www.kaicentre.com, the KAI inventory works like this ... 

A second cohort subset (N= 148) was tested at about 10 years of age, using as psychometric instruments the WISC-R Scales and Battery Composite scores on the Kaufman K-TEA test (Bellinger et al., 1992). By 10 years of age, the mean PbB had declined to 2.9 p,g/dl, half that at 5 years and about one-third that at 24 months. WISC-R full scale and verbal IQ... 

In addition to the clinical interview, psychometric rating instruments allow for rapid and reliable measurement of the nature and severity of depressive and associated symptoms. 

The heritabilities found in this last study are smaller than in the previous studies. The reason for this is simple—unreliability of measurement. Table 4 shows the MZA correlations for six common higher-order factors that can be estimated in two of the three studies and comparable factors derived from two instruments. As expected the correlations increase with the psychometric quality of the instruments. We have demonstrated the same effect in the twin registry sample (Lykken, Bouchard, McGue, Tellegen, 1993). 

March and Amaya-Jackson (personal communication) have developed a self-report PTSD screening measure, the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) that has demonstrated excellent factor analytic and psychometric properties across the domains of reexperiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Amaya-Jackson et al. (2000) developed the Child PTSD Checklist, which is a child-friendly instrument with sound psychometric properties that can provide a formal diagnosis of PTSD. 

Because the principal focus of pharmacoeconomics is to incorporate outcomes in the demonstration of the value of a therapy, the quality of life that results from a therapy has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Most frequently, quality of life is measured using standardized instruments to collect patient-reported quality of life. These instruments are traditionally developed using patient or expert interviews to establish the areas of inquiry or domains of the instrument The use of these instruments in pharmacoeconomics is heavily dependent on the demonstrated psychometric properties of the instrument, such as its reliability, validity and responsiveness, or on sensitivity to the changes in the disease to be studied. 

Dresma, T. (2000). Readiness Instrument Psychometric Evaluation Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index (READI). Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http //131.158.7.207/cgi-bin/ tsnrp/search studies.cgi id=179... 

Reineck, C. (1996). Individual medical readiness Concept clarification. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http // 131.158.7.207/cgi-bin/tsnrp/search3tudies.cgi id=102 Reineck, C. (1998). Readiness instrument psychometric evaluation. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http //131.158.7.207/cgi-bin/tsnrp/search studies.cgi id=159 Reineck, C. (1999). Individual readiness in nursing The Federal Nursing Service Award. Military Medicine, 164(4), 251-255. 

The study of HRQOL requires a multidimensional approach. Assessments must include components that evaluate, at a minimum, the health concepts of physical functioning, social and role functioning, mental health, and perception of general health. In addition, the full continuum of these concepts must be included, from the most limited to the healthiest. Approaches to capture HRQOL data include the self-administered questionnaire, personal interview, telephone interview, observation, and postal survey. The assessment instruments must possess acceptable reliability, validity, and sensitivity, and the investigators and the participants must accept them. Psychometrics... 

Instruments for measuring the filament linear density continuously use capacitance of the filaments to operate the sensor, similar in principle to the Uster and Keisoki cveness testers. The instruments are usually accurate to between 1% and 3%. but as capacitance is affected by relative humidity and temperature, these parameters need to be strictly controlled. Otherwise the accuracy of the results will be somewhat spurious, even when calibration is on line, as the strict control of relative humidity within an environment where the temperature varies by more than 2 C around an ambient temperature of over 2. C is not realistic, as can be seen from any psychometric chart. 

The measurements of performance capacities associated with human functions should conform to certain criteria. Details can be found in Brand and Crownshield [ 1981 ] and Chaffin [ 1982]. A general set of psychometric criteria is also discussed by Sanders and McCormick [1993]. It includes measurement accuracy, reliability, validity, sensitivity, and freedom from contamination. Meeting these criteria depends not only on the instruments used but also on the methods of analysis and the expertise of the analyst. It is almost impossible to satisfy these criteria perfectly, especially when the task is being performed in its natural environment (as opposed to a laboratory simulation). However, the analyst must always be aware of them and must be pragmatic in measuring task variables. Meister [1985] lists the following practical requirements for measurements (1) objective, (2) quantitative, (3) unobtrusive, (4) easy to collect, (5) requiring no special data-coUection techniques or instrumentation, and (6) of relatively low cost in terms of money and effort by the experimenter. However, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive. 

The first part of diis chapter has presented what we call "paper and pencil" tips regarding a variety of issues that can be considered when developing surveys and tests. One step in survey or test design is to compute a reliability statistic, such as Cronbach alpha. Typically, researchers collect data with their instrument and commence their statistical analysis. However, researchers should include a second analysis step that utilizes psychometric theory to guide die development of surveys and tests, to provide techniques Aat allow die functioning of surveys and tests to be monitored and improved, and to prepare data for statistical calculations. In the second part of the chapter, we provide an overview of one psychometric technique (the Rasch model) diat allows researchers to easily carryout this important second analysis step. 

An instrument is a special case of a questioimaire. It is a psychometrically validated questionnaire, which is used to measure some aspect of human behaviour, such as the Myers-Briggs personality test. 

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