Principles Of Measurement Theory Research Articles

DEVELOPING A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING SERVICE MODULARITY LEVEL

This paper addresses the existing methodological gap in assessing service modularity level. The study uses a qualitative approach and develops a technique to quickly and cost-effectively determine service modularity level. The theoretical framework builds on the principles of measurement theory, evaluation theory, and multicriteria analysis (MCA). To test the developed technique, an exploratory case study was conducted focusing on three service companies in Lithuania. Data were collected by interviewing key informants using the proposed instrument. The collected data were analysed and linked to the developed multidimensional scale for measuring the service modularity level. The obtained results support the view that qualitative evaluation can be an alternative for calculating modularity indices in the field of service modularity. The paper provides a practical tool for service modularity assessment for service industry practitioners to accelerate decision-making. The study contributes to the field of service modularity by delivering insights into assessing service modularity level. These insights are particularly important because the literature on measuring modularity level in services has been quite scarce.

Psychometrics of the Multiple Sclerosis and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Knowledge Patient Questionnaire: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: In the last few decades, the revised diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) and the development of numerous new MS therapies have created the possibility of early diagnosis and opportune MS management. However, these changes, and the mounting emphasis on patient choice and shared decision making, have not been accompanied by improvements in information provided to patients with MS (PwMS). Information provision for PwMS increases disease-related knowledge that may assist them in decision making and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to validate the Multiple Sclerosis and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Knowledge Questionnaire (MSMRIKQ) to improve patients' shared decision-making capabilities. METHODS: In this methodological study, the instrument development process was completed in 4 stages using principles of measurement theory: (1) establishing a pool of items after patient and clinician panels' review, (2) evaluating the validity of the scale-both face and content validity, (3) pilot testing the scale, and (4) post-pilot testing statistical analysis of items and scale reliability and validity. RESULTS: The 20-item instrument was finalized based on a panel of MS experts' and patients' comments. The final version of the MSMRIKQ was pilot tested with a sample of 46 PwMS. Face validity was established on all MSMRIKQ items. Individual item-level and scale-level content validity indices for universal agreement estimates were acceptable at item-level content validity index = 1 and scale-level content validity index = 1 for the 20 items. The Kuder-Richardson 20 reliability estimate for the entire scale was 0.58; the Kuder-Richardson 20 estimates for the subscales of MS and magnetic resonance imaging knowledge were 0.35 and 0.51, respectively. The split-half reliability with Spearman-Brown correction for the total scale was 0.60. The Poisson regression model was significant for predicting MS knowledge within this population. CONCLUSION: The MSMRIKQ is a basic knowledge instrument for clinical and research use.

Evolutionary coupling measurement: Making sense of the current chaos

Objective: The aim of this research is to evaluate the measurement of evolutionary coupling (EC) in software artefacts from a measurement theory perspective. Background: Evolutionary coupling (EC) can be defined as the implicit relationship between two or more software artefacts which are frequently changed together. Previous studies on EC show that EC measures which are based on software change history information play an important role in measuring software quality and predicting defects. The many previous EC measures published are disparate and no comprehensive evaluation of the current EC measures exists. Therefore it is hard for researchers and practitioners to compare, choose and use EC measures. Methods: We define 19 evaluation criteria based on the principles of measurement theory and metrology. We evaluate previously published EC measures by applying these criteria. Results: Our evaluation results revealed that current EC measurement has the particular weaknesses around establishing sound empirical relation systems, defining detailed and standardised measurement procedures as well as scale type and mathematical validation. Conclusions: We provide information about the quality of existing EC measures and measurement methods. The results suggest that there is more work to be done to put EC measurement on a firm footing that will enable the reliable measurement of EC and the accurate replication of EC measurement.

On measurement and quantification: The case of most and more than half

The quantifiers most and more than half pose a challenge to formal semantic analysis. On the one hand, their meanings seem essentially the same, prompting accounts that treat them as logically equivalent. On the other hand, their behavior diverges in a number of interesting ways. This article draws attention to some previously unnoticed contrasts between the two and develops a novel semantic analysis of them, based on principles of measurement theory. Most and more than half have logical forms that are superficially equivalent (per Hackl 2009), but that place different requirements on the structure of the underlying measurement scale: more than half requires a ratio scale, while most can be interpreted relative to an ordinal scale or one with a semiordered structure. The latter scale type is motivated by findings from psychophysics and by psychological models of humans’ approximate numerical abilities. A corpus analysis is presented that confirms the predictions of the present account.

Multi-Paradigm Metric and its Applicability on JAVA Projects

JAVA is one of the favorite languages amongst software developers. However, the numbers of specific software metrics to evaluate the JAVA code are limited. In this paper, we evaluate the applicability of a recently developed multi paradigm metric to JAVA projects. The experimentations show that the Multi paradigm metric is an effective measure for estimating the complexity of the JAVA code/projects, and therefore it can be used for controlling the quality of the projects. We have also evaluated the multi-paradigm metric against the principles of measurement theory.

An inheritance complexity metric for object-oriented code: A cognitive approach

Software metrics should be used in order to improve the productivity and quality of software, because they provide critical information about reliability and maintainability of the system. In this paper, we propose a cognitive complexity metric for evaluating design of object-oriented (OO) code. The proposed metric is based on an important feature of the OO systems: Inheritance. It calculates the complexity at method level considering internal structure of methods, and also considers inheritance to calculate the complexity of class hierarchies. The proposed metric is validated both theoretically and empirically. For theoretical validation, principles of measurement theory are applied since the measurement theory has been proposed and extensively used in the literature as a means to evaluate the software engineering metrics. We applied our metric on a real project for empirical validation and compared it with Chidamber and Kemerer (CK) metrics suite. The theoretical, practical and empirical validations and the comparative study prove the robustness of the measure.

An approach for pattern oriented software development based on a design handbook

In many mature engineering disciplines, reuse of available design knowledge is helped by the presence of handbooks. These handbooks record the details of existing system components and help in the process of evaluating design alternatives while building new systems. In recent times, design patterns have been identified as fundamental components of an object oriented design. However, they are presented in a format that may not be best suited for systematic selection and use while evaluating design alternatives. This paper provides a procedure to construct a handbook based on design patterns. This handbook helps designers in methodical selection of design patterns. The construction of the handbook is based on the identification of a set of key attributes of a design pattern and quantification of these attributes using the principles of measurement theory. A new methodology for object oriented design which consults the handbook during the design process is also introduced. The proposed methodology along with the handbook helps in evaluating different design alternatives.

A Model for Clinical Evaluation

Clinical practice is an integral part of the training of health professionals, yet many evaluation tools presently used in the health sciences to measure clinical competency do not provide satisfactory validity, reliability, nor an appropriate level of standardisation. This study explored the development of a clinical evaluation model using the principles of measurement theory and psychometric methods. The following four step test construction was used: planning; construction; evaluation; standardisation — reliability, validity. This aimed to provide evaluation tools for a population of 827 occupational therapy students. Although this study had particular reference to occupational therapy, the model of clinical evaluation developed could be readily adapted for use with other clinically‐based health professional students. Results indicated that the tools developed had reliability, content and construct validity for the population under study.