Coefficient Beta and Hierarchical Item Clustering: An Analytical Procedure for Establishing and Displaying the Dimensionality and Homogeneity of Summated Scales

Title
Coefficient Beta and Hierarchical Item Clustering: An Analytical Procedure for Establishing and Displaying the Dimensionality and Homogeneity of Summated Scales
Publication Date
2006
Author(s)
Cooksey, RW
Soutar, GN
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Sage Publications, Inc
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.1177/1094428105283939
UNE publication id
une:229
Abstract
Summated scales are widely used in management research to measure constructs such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This article suggests that Revelle's (1979) coefficient beta, implemented in Revelle's (1978) ICLUST item-clustering procedure, should be used in conjunction with Cronbach's coefficient alpha measure of internal consistency as criteria for judging the dimensionality and internal homogeneity of summated scales. The approach is demonstrated using ICLUST reanalyses of sample responses to Warr's (1990) affective well-being scale and O'Brien, Dowling, and Kabanoff's (1978) job satisfaction scale. Coefficient beta and item clustering are shown to more clearly identify the homogeneity and internal dimensional structure of summated scale constructs than do traditional principal components analyses. Given these benefits, Revelle's approach is a viable alternative methodology for scale construction in management, organizational, and cross-cultural contexts, especially when researchers need to make defensible choices between using whole scales or subscales.
Link
Citation
Organizational Research Methods, 9(1), p. 78-98
ISSN
1094-4281
Start page
78
End page
98

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