A ‘good practice’ guide for the reporting of design and analysis for psychometric evaluation

Abstract

Background: Psychometrics is a broad term within the statistical literature; however, it is highly relevant and central to the development and evaluation of psychological tests and measures, an area of increasing importance within reproductive psychology specifically and behavioural sciences more generally. Undesirably there remains widespread confusion regarding the general principles of approach in terms of psychometric evaluation and application of the appropriate statistical tests and procedures. Objectives: The focus of this paper is to describe the main psychometric elements for consideration of relevance both to the development and evaluation of an instrument or tool used within the context of reproductive psychology. Conclusions: It is contended that by presenting a ‘standard’ for the application and reporting of psychometric data and approaches, the consistency and quality of papers utilising such approaches will be optimised.

Keywords:

• quantitative methods
• psychometrics
• psychosocial factors