Kutscher Tanja, Crayen Claudia, Eid Michael
Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universitaet Berlin Berlin, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2017 Jan 4;7:1998. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01998. eCollection 2016.
This study investigated the adequacy of a rating scale with a large number of response categories that is often used in panel surveys for assessing diverse aspects of job satisfaction. An inappropriate scale usage is indicative of overstraining respondents and of diminished psychometric scale quality. The mixed Item Response Theory (IRT) approach for polytomous data allows exploring heterogeneous patterns of inappropriate scale usage in form of avoided categories and response styles. In this study, panel data of employees ( = 7036) on five aspects of job satisfaction measured on an 11-point rating scale within the "Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia" (wave 2001) were analyzed. A three-class solution of the restricted mixed generalized partial credit model fit the data best. The results showed that in no class the 11-point scale was appropriately used but that the number of categories used was reduced in all three classes. Respondents of the large class (40%) appropriately differentiate between up to six categories. The two smaller classes (33 and 27%) avoid even more categories and show some kind of extreme response style. Furthermore, classes differ in socio-demographic and job-related factors. In conclusion, a two- to six-point scale without the middle point might be more adequate for assessing job satisfaction.
本研究调查了一种具有大量反应类别的评分量表的适用性，该量表常用于面板调查中，以评估工作满意度的各个方面。不恰当的量表使用表明对受访者要求过高，且心理测量量表质量下降。针对多分类数据的混合项目反应理论（IRT）方法，能够以避免的类别和反应方式的形式，探索不恰当量表使用的异质模式。在本研究中，分析了澳大利亚“家庭、收入和劳动力动态”（2001年波次）中员工（n = 7036）在11点量表上测量的工作满意度五个方面的面板数据。受限混合广义部分计分模型的三类解决方案最适合这些数据。结果表明，在任何一类中，11点量表都未得到恰当使用，但在所有三类中，使用的类别数量都有所减少。大类（40%）的受访者能够恰当地区分多达六个类别。两个较小的类别（33%和27%）避免使用更多类别，并表现出某种极端反应方式。此外，不同类别在社会人口统计学和与工作相关的因素方面存在差异。总之，一个没有中间点的两点到六点量表可能更适合评估工作满意度。
