In the context of the importance of valid self-report measures to research and evidence-based practice in social work, an argument-based approach to validity is presented and the concept of developmental validity is introduced. Cognitive development theories are applied to the self-report process of children, and cognitive pretesting is reviewed as a methodology to advance the validity of self-report instruments for children. An application of cognitive pretesting is presented in the development of the Elementary School Success Profile. Two phases of cognitive pretesting were completed to gather data about how children read, interpret, and answer self-report items. Cognitive pretesting procedures identified validity problems with numerous items leading to modifications. Cognitive pretesting framed by an argument-based approach to validity holds significant potential to improve the developmental validity of child selfreport instruments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alwin, D. F. (2001). Research on survey quality. Sociol Methods and Research, 20, 3-29.
2.
Amaya-Jackson, L., Socolar, R. R. S., Hunter, W., Runyan, D. K., & Colindres, R. (2000). Directly questioning children and adolescents about maltreatment: A review of the survey measures used. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 725-759.
3.
Bowen, G. L., & Richman, J. M. (1995). The School Success Profile. Chapel Hill: School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
4.
Bowen, G. L., & Richman, J. M. (1997). The School Success Profile. Chapel Hill: School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
5.
Bowen, G. L., & Richman, J. M. (2001). The School Success Profile. Chapel Hill: School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
6.
Bowen, G. L., Woolley, M. E., Richman, J. M., & Bowen, N. K. (2001). Brief intervention in schools: The School Success Profile. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 1, 43-54.
7.
Bowen, N. K., Bowen, G. L., & Woolley, M. E. (2003). Constructing and validating assessment tools for school-based practitioners: The Elementary School Success Profile. In A. R. Roberts & K. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of practice based research. New York: Oxford University Press.
8.
Cooley, M. R., Turner, S. M., & Beidel, D. C. (1995). Assessing community violence: The children’s report of exposure to violence. Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 201-208.
9.
DeMaio, T. J., & Rothgeb, J. M. (1996). Cognitive interviewing techniques: In the lab and in the field. In N. Schwarz & S. Sudman (Eds.), Answering questions: Methodology for cognitive and communicative processes in survey research (pp. 177-196). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
10.
DeVellis, R. F. (1991). Scale development: Theory and applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
11.
Ferguson, T. J., Stegge, H., Eyre, H. L., Vollmer, R., & Ashbaker, M. (2000). Context effects and the (mal)adaptive nature of guilt and shame in children. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 126, 319-345.
12.
Foddy, W. (1998). An empirical evaluation of in-depth probes used to pretest survey questions. Sociological Method and Research, 27, 103-133.
13.
Forsyth, B. H., & Lessler, J. T. (1991). Cognitive laboratory methods: A taxonomy. In P. P. Biemer, R. M. Groves, L. E. Lyberg, N. A. Mathiowietz, & S. Sudman (Eds.), Measurement errors in surveys (pp. 393-418). New York: John Wiley.
14.
Fowler, F. J. (1995). Improving survey questions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
15.
Gambrill, E. (1999). Evidence-based practice: An alternative to authority based practice. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 80, 341-350.
16.
Goldhaber, D. E. (2000). Theories of human development: Integrative perspectives. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
17.
Goswami, U. (Ed.). (2002). Blackwell handbook of childhood cognitive development. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
18.
Greenwald, R., & Rubin, A. (1999). Assessment of posttraumatic symptoms in children: Developmental and preliminary validation of parent and child scales. Research on Social Work Practice, 9, 61-75.
19.
Hastie, R. (1987). Information processing theory for survey researchers. In H. J. Hippler, N. Schwarz, & S. Sudman (Eds.), Social information processing and survey methodology (pp. 42-70). New York/Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
20.
Jabine, T. B., Straf, M. L., Tanur, J. M., & Tourangeau, R. (1984). Cognitive aspects of survey methodology: Building a bridge between disciplines. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
21.
Jobe, J. B., & Mingay, D. J. (1989). Cognitive research improves questionnaires. American Journal of Public Health, 79, 1053-1055.
22.
Kane, M. T. (1992). An argument-based approach to validity. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 527-535.
23.
March, J. S., Parker, J. D. A., Sullivan, K., Stallings, P., & Conners, C. K. (1997). The multidimensional anxiety scale for children (MASC): Factor structure, reliability, and validity. Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 554-565.
24.
McConaughy, S. H. (1993). Evaluating behavioral and emotional disorders with the CBCL, TRF, and YSR cross-informant scales. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 1, 40-52.
25.
McGuire, S., Manke, B., Saudino, K. J., Reiss, D., Hetherinton, E. M., & Plomin, R. (1999). Perceived competence and self-worth during adolescence: A longitudinal behavioral genetic study. Child Development, 70, 1283-1296.
26.
Montgomery, M. S. (1994). Self-concept and children with learning disabilities: Observer-child concordance across six context dependent domains. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27, 254-262.
27.
Rebok, G., Riley, A., Forrest, C., Starfield, B., Green, B., Robertson, J., et al. (2001). Elementary school-aged children’s reports of their health: A cognitive interviewing study. Quality of Life Research, 10, 59-70.
28.
Schwarz, N. (1999). Self-reports. American Psychologist, 54, 93-105.
29.
Sudman, S., Bradburn, N. M., & Schwarz, N. (1996). Thinking about answers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
30.
Tanur, J. M. (1999). Looking backwards and forwards at the CASM movement. In M. G. Sirken, D. J. Herrmann, S. Schecter, N. Schwarz, J. M. Tanur, & R. Tourangeau (Eds.), Cognition and survey research (pp. 13-20). New York: John Wiley.
31.
Thomas, E. J. (1985). The validity of design and development and related concepts in developmental research. Social Work Research & Abstracts, 21, 50-55.
32.
Thyer, B. A. (2001). The handbook of social work research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
33.
Tinsley, B. J., & Holtgrave, D. R. (1997). A multimethod analysis of risk perceptions and health behaviors in children. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 57, 197-209.
34.
Tourangeau, R., Rips, L. J., & Rasinski, K. (2000). The psychology of survey response. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
35.
Willis, G. B., DeMaio, T. J., & Harris-Kojetin, B. (1999). Is the bandwagon headed for the promised land? Evaluating the validity of cognitive interviewing techniques. In M. G. Sirken, D. J. Herrmann, S. Schecter, N. Schwarz, J. M. Tanur, & R. Tourangeau (Eds.), Cognition and survey research (pp. 133-154). New York: John Wiley.
36.
Wright-Strawdermann, C., & Watson, B. L. (1992). The prevalence of depressive symptoms in children with disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25, 258-264.
37.
Yugar, J. M., & Shapiro, E. S. (2001). Elementary children’s school friendship: A comparison of peer assessment methodologies. School Psychology Review, 30, 568-587.
