Never Say ‘‘Always’’? Extreme Item Wording Effects on Scalar Invariance and Item Response Curves
研究了调查问卷中使用极端词“总是”对项目、选项和量表层面测量不变性的影响，发现措辞效应虽存在但影响较小，对量表测量结果影响不大。
When writing items for survey measures, common advice dictates that one should avoid using extreme words like ‘‘always.’’ However, the systematic study of extreme wording effects is rare. The current study applies confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) methods to assess the effects of extreme item wording (i.e., the word ‘‘always’’) on item-level, response option-level, and scale- (or test) level invariance. The authors hypothesized that including the word ‘‘always’’ in an item stem would affect responses such that individuals would be less likely to strongly agree with these items. To test this hypothesis, six items with extreme wording from the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) were compared with more moderately worded versions of the same items. Although an effect was found for item wording, the magnitude of nonequivalence was small and is unlikely to have a strong influence on scale-level measurement outcomes. Implications for evaluating survey psychometric properties are discussed.