Citation

Grayson DA. Aust. N. Zeal. J. Psychiatry 1988; 22(1): 99-108.

Affiliation

NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Australian National University, Canberra.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3370036

Abstract

This paper discusses some issues involved in the construction and interpretation of scales in psychiatric research. The issues covered include scale construction, measures of scale homogeneity, the logic of factor analysis and the interpretation of effects manifesting in scale-data, especially interaction effects. The aim of the paper is to "de-mystify" some of the psychometric techniques commonly available, and to emphasize that their appropriate use depends on both a firm understanding of the content area to which they are applied and a rudimentary knowledge of what the methods purport to do.

Language: en