Liu Yang, Pek Jolynn
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland.
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University.
Psychol Methods. 2024 Feb 8. doi: 10.1037/met0000644.
Observed scores (e.g., summed scores and estimated factor scores) are assumed to reflect underlying constructs and have many uses in psychological science. Constructs are often operationalized as latent variables (LVs), which are mathematically defined by their relations with manifest variables in an LV measurement model (e.g., common factor model). We examine the performance of several types of observed scores for the purposes of (a) estimating latent scores and classifying people and (b) recovering structural relations among LVs. To better reflect practice, our evaluation takes into account different sources of uncertainty (i.e., sampling error and model error). We review psychometric properties of observed scores based on the classical test theory applied to common factor models, report on a simulation study examining their performance, and provide two empirical examples to illustrate how different scores perform under different conditions of reliability, sample size, and model error. We conclude with general recommendations for using observed scores and discuss future research directions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
观测分数（例如，总分和估计因子分数）被假定为反映潜在结构，并且在心理科学中有许多用途。结构通常被操作化为潜在变量（LVs），这些潜在变量在LV测量模型（例如，共同因子模型）中通过它们与显变量的关系进行数学定义。我们为了（a）估计潜在分数和对人进行分类，以及（b）恢复潜在变量之间的结构关系，考察了几种类型观测分数的表现。为了更好地反映实际情况，我们的评估考虑了不同的不确定性来源（即抽样误差和模型误差）。我们基于应用于共同因子模型的经典测验理论回顾了观测分数的心理测量特性，报告了一项检验其表现的模拟研究，并提供了两个实证例子来说明不同分数在不同的信度、样本量和模型误差条件下的表现。我们最后给出了使用观测分数的一般建议，并讨论了未来的研究方向。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2024美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
