Contextualized Measurement Scale Adaptation: A 4-Step Tutorial for Health Psychology Research

Benjamin Ambuehl () and Jennifer Inauen
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Benjamin Ambuehl: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Duebendorf, Switzerland
Jennifer Inauen: Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-24

Abstract: Health psychology research is inherently context specific: Different health behaviors are executed by different target groups (e.g., gender, age) in different social structures, cultures, and environments. This asks for the adaptation of research instruments to enhance specificity. For example, when using measurement scales in new contexts, translation and psychometric validation of the instruments are necessary but not sufficient if the validity of the psychological concept behind a measurement scale has not been researched. In this study, we build on existing guidelines of translation as well as psychometric validation and present four steps on how to adapt measurement scales to a new context: Step 1 asks whether the psychological concept is found in the new context. Step 2 asks whether the measurement scale and its items are understood in the new context. Step 3 asks whether a measurement scale is valid and reliable. Step 4 asks how the items of the measurement scale perform individually. Following these four steps, measurement scales are carefully translated, adapted, and validated and can therefore be transferred to very different contexts.

Keywords: context specificity; measurement; scale translation and adaptation; mixed methods; psychometric properties; item response theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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