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1 – 10 of 505Thomas Salzberger and Rudolf R. Sinkovics
The paper investigates the suitability of the Rasch model for establishing data equivalence. The results based on a real data set are contrasted with findings from standard…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper investigates the suitability of the Rasch model for establishing data equivalence. The results based on a real data set are contrasted with findings from standard procedures based on CFA methods.
Design/methodology/approach
Sinkovics et al.'s data on technophobia was used and re‐evaluated using both classical test theory (CTT) (multiple‐group structural equations modelling) and Rasch measurement theory.
Findings
Data equivalence in particular and measurement in general cannot be addressed without reference to theory. While both procedures can be considered best practice approaches within their respective theoretical foundation of measurement, the Rasch model provides some theoretical virtues. Measurement derived from data that fit the Rasch model seems to be approximated by classical procedures reasonably well. However, the reverse is not necessarily true.
Practical implications
The more widespread application of Rasch models would lead to a stronger justification of measurement, in particular, in cross‐cultural studies but also whenever measures of individual respondents are of interest.
Originality/value
Measurement models outside the framework of CTT are still scarce exceptions in marketing research.
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Vanessa Yanes-Estévez, Ana María García-Pérez and Juan Ramón Oreja-Rodríguez
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the information shared by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers and its implications on their performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the information shared by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers and its implications on their performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper puts forward the concept of arcs of communication based on the frequency and direction of the information exchanged by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers. SMEs are classified by the arc of communication they belong to using data from a survey carried out in the Canary Islands (Spain). The Rasch Measurement Theory is applied.
Findings
The largest group of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shares information frequently with both customers and suppliers (broad arc of communication). Differences were detected in the performance of SMEs belonging to this broad arc, as well as, in those firms that communicated frequently with their main suppliers (asymmetrical arc of communication towards suppliers). In both cases, these firms were better than their competitors in innovation.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates the need for better management of the links between SMEs and their suppliers and with their customers in accordance with their strategies, promoting a greater cooperative behaviour throughout the supply chain.
Originality/value
SMEs’ customers and suppliers are their main sources of information compared to large firms, which have greater resources to search for and acquire information. This paper investigates the information exchanged by SMEs with their main customers and suppliers from a strategic focus by adding to the literature the concept of arcs of communication. It also has the added value of applying the Rasch Measurement Theory (Rasch, 1960/1980).
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Ana María García-Pérez and Vanessa Yanes-Estévez
This work develops a longitudinal analysis of perceived environmental uncertainty applying the Rasch methodology (1960). The environmental uncertainty is defined as an…
Abstract
Purpose
This work develops a longitudinal analysis of perceived environmental uncertainty applying the Rasch methodology (1960). The environmental uncertainty is defined as an individual's perceived inability to predict the environment accurately (Milliken, 1987). The study focuses on analysing the state uncertainty from the perspective of the information and under the cognitive approach to the business reality.
Design/methodology/approach
Rasch measurement theory (1960) is applied, specifically the differential item functioning analysis based on the responses to a survey of SMEs.
Findings
The main sources of uncertainty for all the SMEs in the sample are two sectors in their general environment: economic and political-legal ones. These segments are the only ones in the environment that generate uncertainty that in 2016 is significantly different from that in 2019, being lower in the latter year.
Originality/value
This is a pioneering analysis of uncertainty both for its longitudinal nature and the methodology applied.
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The purpose of this paper is to develop a mobile social networking service (SNS) addiction scale to measure respondents’ addiction levels.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a mobile social networking service (SNS) addiction scale to measure respondents’ addiction levels.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the existing literature on the components model of addiction by Griffiths (2005) and mobile SNS addiction, an initial scale in a five-point Likert-format was developed. It was refined through the pilot study with 100 participants and the main study with 423 participants utilizing factor analysis and Rasch analysis.
Findings
Mobile SNS addiction as a behavioral addiction, demonstrated six addiction symptoms: modification, salience, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict and relapse, which were interrelated with each other. The mobile SNS addiction scale developed in this study was found to be psychometrically robust and unidimensional.
Practical implications
The mobile SNS addiction scale consists of nine items, thus making it easier and more convenient to be applied to academic research and clinical practice.
Originality/value
The combined use of factor analysis and the Rasch model could largely reduce potential negative effects associated with limitations of classical test theory and improve the chance of developing a psychometrically robust instrument. The mobile SNS addiction scale covers a range of types of SNSs, thus being more generic. The items in the scale are unidimensionally loaded on the latent construct of mobile SNS addiction and demonstrate measurement invariance across respondents of different demographics.
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Thomas Salzberger and Monika Koller
Psychometric analyses of self-administered questionnaire data tend to focus on items and instruments as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the functioning of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Psychometric analyses of self-administered questionnaire data tend to focus on items and instruments as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the functioning of the response scale and its impact on measurement precision. In terms of the response scale direction, existing evidence is mixed and inconclusive.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments are conducted to examine the functioning of response scales of different direction, ranging from agree to disagree versus from disagree to agree. The response scale direction effect is exemplified by two different latent constructs by applying the Rasch model for measurement.
Findings
The agree-to-disagree format generally performs better than the disagree-to-agree variant with spatial proximity between the statement and the agree-pole of the scale appearing to drive the effect. The difference is essentially related to the unit of measurement.
Research limitations/implications
A careful investigation of the functioning of the response scale should be part of every psychometric assessment. The framework of Rasch measurement theory offers unique opportunities in this regard.
Practical implications
Besides content, validity and reliability, academics and practitioners utilising published measurement instruments are advised to consider any evidence on the response scale functioning that is available.
Originality/value
The study exemplifies the application of the Rasch model to assess measurement precision as a function of the design of the response scale. The methodology raises the awareness for the unit of measurement, which typically remains hidden.
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John Ehrich, Steven Howard, James Tognolini and Sahar Bokosmaty
The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of failing to psychometrically test questionnaire instruments when measuring university students’ attitudes towards plagiarism…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of failing to psychometrically test questionnaire instruments when measuring university students’ attitudes towards plagiarism. These issues are highlighted by a psychometric evaluation of a commonly used (but previously untested) plagiarism attitudinal scale.
Design/methodology/approach
The importance of psychometric testing is shown through an analysis of a commonly used scale using modern techniques (e.g. Rasch analysis) on 131 undergraduate education students at an Australian university.
Findings
Psychometric analysis revealed the scale to be unreliable in its present form. However, when reduced to an eight-item subscale it became marginally reliable.
Research limitations/implications
The main implication of this paper is that questionnaire instruments cannot be assumed to function as they are intended without thorough psychometric testing.
Practical implications
The paper offers valuable insight into the psychometric properties of a previously untested but commonly used plagiarism attitudinal scale.
Originality/value
The paper offers a straightforward and easy to understand introduction to researchers in higher education who use questionnaires/surveys in their research but lack an understanding of why psychometric testing is so critical. While similar papers have been written in other fields which advocate psychometric approaches, such as Rasch analysis, this has not been the case in higher educational research (or mainstream educational research for that matter).
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Lidia Sanchez-Ruiz, Beatriz Blanco and Emma Diaz
The purpose of this paper is to define a general and common construct in order to measure the level of difficulty companies experience when they implement continuous improvement…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to define a general and common construct in order to measure the level of difficulty companies experience when they implement continuous improvement (CI). Additionally, a rank of barriers is obtained together with a rank of companies.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to achieve the objective, first, a literature review is carried out to specify the domain of the construct; second, a sample of items is selected; third a survey is carried out in companies that have already implemented CI initiatives, the results being thus limited to this population; fourth, measures are purified by analysing the reliability and validity of the measurements, and finally results are obtained. The Rasch measurement theory will be used to provide a new perspective on a mature research topic.
Findings
It can be concluded that a new valid construct has been defined together with a rank of CI barriers, being lack of time the main barrier. A rank of companies is also obtained which is a first step in the development of future research studies.
Practical implications
Managers are provided with a better understanding of the barriers that can obstruct CI implementation. Thus, the rank of CI barriers guides managers through the most common and important obstacles so that they will be able to plan better CI strategies. In addition, the rank of companies allows each company to undertake a benchmarking exercise.
Originality/value
This work proposes a new way of analysing the difficulty in implementing CI as a continuum, rather than as independent barriers. From a theoretical point of view, it defines a new construct and offers a rank of CI barriers together with a rank of companies based on their level of difficulty when implementing CI initiatives. This is something new, as previous studies were mainly focussed on the items side. From a practical point of view, this study offers the surveyed companies the opportunity to see how they are positioned with respect to the other companies. Moreover, this rank of companies is the foundation on which to develop further studies with a practical orientation in the future.
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Vanessa Yanes‐Estévez, Juan Ramón Oreja‐Rodríguez and Ana Maria García‐Pérez
The paper's aim is to develop a diagnosis of the environment of the agrifood supply chain based on members' perceptions of environmental uncertainty.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper's aim is to develop a diagnosis of the environment of the agrifood supply chain based on members' perceptions of environmental uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
Environmental uncertainty is defined as the lack of information about the external environment and is obtained by integrating the perceived dynamism and complexity of the environmental variables. The measurements that are used are the result of applying the Rasch methodology to the information obtained by means of a questionnaire completed by the deciders of firms in the Canary Islands (Spain). Those measures permit the complexity and dynamism perceived by the groups of firms in the supply chain together with the levels of perceived dynamism and complexity of the environmental variables to be jointly positioned on a map.
Findings
According to the perceptions of the members of the agrifood supply chain (agriculture, agrifood industry and distribution), the main sources of environmental uncertainty are demand and competitors. The agricultural sector perceives somewhat more uncertainty than agrifood industry sector, while the distribution sector perceives a stable environment.
Research limitations/implications
The paper presents a useful tool for the business population and public institutions to identify which variables are perceived as the most dynamic and complex and how those variables are perceived by each member of the agrifood supply chain.
Originality/value
The paper operationalises the proposal of Duncan by means of a new application of the Rasch methodology. The results reflect the thinking of the members of all sectors of a supply chain. It is one of the first to study the environmental uncertainty perceived in the agrifood supply chain from a strategic perspective as a fundamental antecedent of the promotion of vertical collaboration in the agrifood supply chain.
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Gives direction as to how administrative quality at a university can be measured on an interval scale. The measure is based on a model of academic staff perceptions in relation to…
Abstract
Gives direction as to how administrative quality at a university can be measured on an interval scale. The measure is based on a model of academic staff perceptions in relation to central, faculty or school administration (as the case may be). The Australian Government set up a new Australian University Quality Agency in 2001 and one of its objectives is to measure quality in administration (management). Proposes that academic staff perceptions of administrative quality consist of two first order aspects, operationally defined by a number of second order aspects. The 21 stem‐items measuring each second order aspect are set up in Guttman patterns, conceptually ordered by increasing “difficulty”. Academics are asked to respond to each of the 21 stem‐items in two parts, conceptually ordered from “easy” to “hard”. This model has been pilot tested successfully with a small sample (N = 27) and is now ready for a full test.
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Guangrong Dai, Kyunghee Han, Huiqin Hu and Stephen M. Colarelli
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the measurement invariance of the Chinese version NEO PI‐R conscientiousness scale.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the measurement invariance of the Chinese version NEO PI‐R conscientiousness scale.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions, it was predicted that certain items might exhibit culture‐related differential item functioning (DIF). The partial credit Rasch model was used to analyze the item responses. The authors also examined the impact of DIF on the measurement invariance of the overall conscientiousness scale using differential test functioning statistics.
Findings
Most of the predicted culture‐related DIF were supported. Although the results suggested a substantial proportion of items showing DIF, the conscientiousness scale functioned consistently across the two cultures under study, suggesting that observed group mean scores can be compared directly.
Research limitations/implications
The authors demonstrate that an understanding of the culture differences may help when translating instrument across cultures to anticipate potential threats to measurement invariance. The current study employed student samples. Results of the study need to be replicated using diverse populations.
Practical implications
Assessment and selection instruments have been increasingly used across nations for HRM purposes. Organizations intending to establish global talent management systems need to evaluate and ensure the cross‐cultural equivalence of the assessment. Findings from the current study support the adoption of the translated conscientiousness scale in China.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few in the literature that examines the measurement invariance using a confirmatory approach.
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