This course provides in introduction to developing instruments with multiple items to measure a single construct. Examples include measures of various social and psychological variables that might be assessed in health, marketing, journalism, or other research areas. Participants will also be encouraged to suggest content areas for discussion. After a brief theoretical introduction, we will turn to practical issues such as when a multi-item scale is (or isn't) appropriate, determining the number and content of items in the scale, what type and how many response options should be offered, whether scales should include both "negative" and "positive" items, whether the parts of a subscale should be grouped or scattered, and other common concerns in scale development. Dr. DeVellis will use real-life examples to demonstrate the scale development process. There will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion.

Instructor: Robert DeVellis, Research Professor, UNC Gillings School of International Public Health and author of Scale Development: Theory and Applications 3rd ed. published 2012 by Sage Publications.

This course will count as 4.0 CPSM short course hours.