Developing and investigating the use of single-item measures in organizational research.

Abstract

The validity of organizational research relies on strong research methods, which include effective measurement of psychological constructs. The general consensus is that multiple item measures have better psychometric properties than single-item measures. However, due to practical constraints (e.g., survey length, respondent burden) there are situations in which certain single items may be useful for capturing information about constructs that might otherwise go unmeasured. We evaluated 37 items, including 18 newly developed items as well as 19 single items selected from existing multiple-item scales based on psychometric characteristics, to assess 18 constructs frequently measured in organizational and occupational health psychology research. We examined evidence of reliability; convergent, discriminant, and content validity assessments; and test-retest reliabilities at 1- and 3-month time lags for single-item measures using a multistage and multisource validation strategy across 3 studies, including data from N = 17 occupational health subject matter experts and N = 1,634 survey respondents across 2 samples. Items selected from existing scales generally demonstrated better internal consistency reliability and convergent validity, whereas these particular new items generally had higher levels of content validity. We offer recommendations regarding when use of single items may be more or less appropriate, as well as 11 items that seem acceptable, 14 items with mixed results that might be used with caution due to mixed results, and 12 items we do not recommend using as single-item measures. Although multiple-item measures are preferable from a psychometric standpoint, in some circumstances single-item measures can provide useful information.

Enhancing daily well-being at work through lunchtime park walks and relaxation exercises: Recovery experiences as mediators.

“…Earlier studies have demonstrated that multiple-item measures can often be validly replaced by singleitem measures (Elo, Leppänen, & Jahkola, 2003;Fisher, Matthews, & Gibbons, 2016;Van Hooff, Geurts, Kompier, & Taris, 2007).…”

What Makes Firms Innovative? The Role of Social Capital in Corporate Innovation

“…We used single-item measures instead of multiple-item scales to measure social capital. While some scholars argue for the practical virtues of single-item measures [112,113], future research may try multiple-item measures to better operationalize each dimension of social capital and to enhance reliability. In addition, we did not examine whether other organizational factors limited the positive impact of social capital on corporate innovation.…”

Recovery during Lunch Breaks: Testing Long-Term Relations with Energy Levels at Work

“…Second, although previous studies have demonstrated one item measures to be valid substitutes for longer scales (Drolet & Morrison, 2001;Elo et al, 2003;Fisher, Matthews, & Gibbons, 2016;Kinnunen et al, 2011) future research may benefit from using multiple item measures for lunchtime recovery and recovery experiences. Third, a further limitation concerning the measures is that our study relies solely on self-report measures and may therefore suffer from common method bias.…”