David A. Kenny
January 8, 1999
Psychometrics
Standard Formulation
Score = True Score plus Error or X = T + E
The true score is assumed to be uncorrelated with the errors of
measurement.
Definition of Components
Classical
True score: the meaningful portion of variance or the average of all
possible measures of the true score
Measurement error: irrelevant sources of variance or the score minus
the true score
Modern: The variance of the score consists of many different
components. In a particular research context, some of these
components are meaningful (the true score) and others are not
(error).
Reliability
The proportion of variance due to true score -- V(T)/V(X)
Do not confuse reliability with how to measure it (e.g., internal
consistency or test-retest).
Reliability refers not just to the measure, but to sample and context
of measurement.
Learn about a computer program for reliability computation.
Standardized Models
The path from true score to measured variable when both variables are
standardized equals the square root of the reliability. Thus, the
correlation of the measure with the true score equals the square
root of the reliability.
Correction for Attenuation
A correlation needs to be divided by the square root of the product
of the two variables' reliability to determine what the correlation
between the two variables would be if the variables' reliabilities
were perfect.
Terminology
Indicator: a measure in structural model than contains measurement
error; usually has a square around it
Construct or latent variable: a theoretical variable in a model which is
tapped by indicators; usually circled
Correlated Measurement Errors
Two indicators of the same construct may share variance because they are
measured by a common method.
The Effects of Unreliability in Causal Models
If a causal variable has measurement error, the estimate of its
effect is biased, as well as the effects of other variables in the
structural equation. Measurement error in the effect variable does
not bias its coefficient unless the variables are standardized.
In this case the bias is that the true beta equal the measured beta
divided by the square root of the endogenous variable's reliability.
For a causal variable X, measurement error biases the estimate of
another causal variable Z that is in the equation when:
Causal variable X has measurement error.
Variables X and Z are correlated.
X affects the endogenous variable.
These three factors multiply to produce bias and so if any one is
missing, there is no bias.
There are three ways to remove the biasing effects of unreliability in
the causal variable:
Instrumental Variable Estimation
Multiple Indicator Latent Variable Models
Correction for Attenuation
The last strategy is problematic because it presumes that
reliabilities are exactly known which is never true and sometimes
estimation breaks down because the correlation matrix is
ill-conditioned. To implement the strategy, one would input the
correlation or covariance matrix and fix the measure's error variance
to 1 - reliability for the correlation matrix and (1 - reliability)
times the measure's variance for the covariance matrix.
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