HTH RS M 727 / Theory and Practice of Measurement

3 unit(s)

Prerequisite(s): Must be enrolled in Graduate Plan in Health Research Methodology; or Master of Public Health/eHealth/Health Policy programs plus permission of instructor and have successfully completed HTH RS M 702.

Principles of subjective assessment in topic areas ranging from educational evaluation to patient-based measurement of health attitudes or health status. Discussion includes: principles and methods of constructing rating scales and approaches to assessing the measurement properties of such scales. Special emphasis on assesment of reliability and validity – various forms of reliability (test-retest, interobserver, split-halves), distinction between reliability and agreement, and indirect methods to assess validity of an instrument in the absence of a “gold standard”. Advanced topics in generalizability theory and Item Response Theory will be introduced. Format is that of lecture, plus small group discussion.