Health Measurement Scales: A Practical Guide to Their Development and Use

The second edition of the only practical guide for clinicians developing tools to measure subjective states, attitudes, and other 'non-tangible' outcomes in their patients has been thoroughly revised to incorporate all the latest research results. New to this edition are a chapter on ethics and a discussion of reliability and generalizability theory. The authors offer an overview of both the theory and the practical applications of health measurement scales, and offer the reader a methodical, step-by-step guidance to the development of their own scales. These features combine to provide the most up-to-date guide to measurement scale development available. Written in a concise and intelligible style, it enables both experienced researchers and novices to develop accurate, sensitive and easy-to-use measurement scales of their own. This is an essential book for anyone who uses or would like to use rating scales in their clinical practice.

David Streiner and Geoffrey Norman are both Professors at the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University.