Conducting Measurement Invariance Tests with Ordinal Data: A Guide for Social Work Researchers

Natasha K. Bowen · Rainier Masa

204 citations0/0 files storedJournal of the Society for Social Work and Research

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Psychometric Methodologies and Testing Health Education and Validation Reliability and Agreement in Measurement

Abstract

Objective: The validity of measures across groups is a major concern for social work researchers and practitioners. Many social workers use scales, or sets of questionnaire items, with ordinal response options. However, a review of social work literature indicates the appropriate treatment of ordinal data in measurement invariance tests is rare; only 3 of 57 articles published in 26 social work journals over the past 12 years used proper testing procedures. This article synthesizes information from the literature and provides recommendations for appropriate measurement invariance procedures with ordinal data. Method: We use data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey to demonstrate applications of invariance testing with ordinal data. Using a robust weighted least squares estimator and polychoric correlation matrix, we examine invariance of a 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) across 2 young adult groups defined by health status. We describe 2 competing approaches: a 4-step approach, in which factor loadings and thresholds are tested and constrained separately; and a 3-step approach, in which loadings and thresholds are tested and constrained in tandem. Results: Both approaches lead to the same conclusion that the 2 dimensions of the PSS are noninvariant across health status. In the absence of invariance, mean scores on the PSS factors cannot be validly compared across groups, nor should latent variables be used in the hypothesis testing across the 2 groups. Readers are directed to online resources. Conclusions: Careful examination of social work scales is likely to reveal fit or noninvariance problems across some groups. Use of appropriate methods for invariance testing will reduce misuse of measures in practice and improve the rigor and quality of social work publications.

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References

1983A Global Measure of Perceived Stress 1989Structural Equations with Latent Variables 2002Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance 2007Sensitivity of Goodness of Fit Indexes to Lack of Measurement Invariance 2000A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research 1989Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance.2004An Empirical Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Estimation for Confirmatory Factor Analysis With Ordinal Data.2012Review of the Psychometric Evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale

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