This article describes 3 stages of construction of the Sensory Over-Responsivity (SensOR) Scales: instrument development, reliability and validity analyses, and cross-validation on a new sample. The SensOR Scales include the SensOR Assessment, an examiner-administered performance evaluation, and the SensOR Inventory, a caregiver self-rating scale. Both scales measure sensory overresponsivity in 7 sensory domains. Data were collected from 2 samples consisting of participants who were typically developing (ns = 60 and 44, respectively) and participants with sensory overresponsivity (ns = 65 and 48, respectively), ages 3 to 55. In developing the research edition, items on the pilot version were reviewed for their internal consistency reliability, discriminant validity, and construct validity. Data from both samples on the research edition revealed high internal consistency reliability for domains and the total test and significant discrimination between the overresponsive and the typically responsive groups (p < .05). The preliminary psychometric integrity of the scales, along with continued research efforts, is an important contribution to evidence-based practice.

This article reports results of a meta-analysis of survey response rates in published research in counseling and clinical psychology over a 20-year span and describes reported survey administration procedures in those fields. Results of 308 survey administrations showed a weighted average response rate of 49.6%. Among possible moderators, response rates differed only by population sampled, journal in which articles were published, sampling source and method, and use of follow-up. Researchers whose studies were included in this meta-analysis used follow-up but rarely used incentives, prenotification, or other response-facilitation methods to maximize response rates. Although the future of survey research in general may rely more heavily on Internet data collection, mail surveys dominate in this field.

BackgroundThere is no disease-specific instrument to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).MethodsPatients' perspectives were collected to develop domains and items for an IPF-specific HRQL instrument. We used item variance and Rasch analysis to construct the ATAQ-IPF (A Tool to Assess Quality of life in IPF).ResultsThe ATAQ-IPF version 1 is composed of 74 items comprising 13 domains. All items fit the Rasch model. Domains and the total instrument possess acceptable psychometric characteristics for a multidimensional questionnaire. The pattern of correlations between ATAQ-IPF scores and physiologic variables known to be important in IPF, along with significant differences in ATAQ-IPF scores between subjects using versus those not using supplemental oxygen, support its validity.ConclusionsPatient-centered and careful statistical methodologies were used to construct the ATAQ-IPF version 1, an IPF-specific HRQL instrument. Simple summation scoring is used to derive individual domain scores as well as a total score. Results support the validity of the ATAQ-IPF, and future studies will build on that validity.

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