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A Method to Analyse Measurement Invariance under Uncertainty in Between-Subjects Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

José A. Martínez ,
Manuel Ruiz Marin  and
Maria del Carmen Vivo Molina
José A. Martínez*
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain)
Manuel Ruiz Marin
Affiliation:
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain)
Maria del Carmen Vivo Molina
Affiliation:
Fundación para la Formación e Investigación Sanitaria de la Región de Murcia (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to José Antonio Martínez García. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa, Facultad de Ciencias de la Empresa, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena. Paseo Alfonso XIII, 30203 Cartagena – Murcia (Spain). Phone: +34-968325776. E-mail: josean.martinez@upct.es
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Abstract

In this research we have introduced a new test (H-test) for analyzing scale invariance in between group designs, and considering uncertainty in individual responses, in order to study the adequacy of disparate rating and visual scales for measuring abstract concepts. The H-test is easy to compute and, as a nonparametric test, does not require any a priori distribution of the data nor conditions on the variances of the distributions to be tested. We apply this test to measure perceived service quality of consumers of a sports services. Results show that, without considering uncertainty, the 1-7 scale is invariant, in line with the related works regarding this topic. However, de 1-5 scale and the 1-7 scale are invariant when adding uncertainty to the analysis. Therefore, adding uncertainty importantly change the conclusions regarding invariance analysis. Both types of visual scales are not invariant in the uncertainty scenario. Implications for the use of rating scales are discussed.

En esta investigación presentamos un nuevo test (test H) para analizar la invarianza de escala en diseños entre sujetos, considerando además la incertidumbre en las respuestas de los individuos, con el fin de estudiar la idoneidad de diferentes escalas de medición de conceptos abstractos. El test H es fácil de calcular y, debido a su naturaleza no paramétrica, no requiere ninguna asunción a prior sobre la distribución de los datos ni de las condiciones de la varianza. Aplicamos este test para medir la calidad percibida de los consumidores de servicios deportivos, y los resultados muestran que, sin considerar la incertidumbre, la escala de 1 a 7 es invariante, en línea con las conclusiones obtenidas en otras investigaciones. Sin embargo, al añadir la incertidumbre en el análisis, las escalas de 1 a 5 y de 1 a 7 son invariantes. Por tanto, la consideración de la incertidumbre cambia las conclusiones en relación al análisis de la invarianza de escala. Las escalas visuales consideradas, a su vez, no son invariantes. Finalmente, las implicaciones para el uso de escalas de medición son discutidas.

Keywords

measurement invariancebetween groups designrating scalesuncertaintyH-testinvarianza de escaladiseño entre gruposescalas de mediciónincertidumbretest H
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 1510 - 1519
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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