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Content Validity and Metric Properties of a Pool of Items Developed to Assess Humor Appreciation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Hugo Carretero-Dios ,
Cristino Pérez  and
Gualberto Buela-Casal
Hugo Carretero-Dios*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Cristino Pérez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Gualberto Buela-Casal
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Hugo Carretero Dios. Facultad de Psicología, Campus Cart 18071 Granada (Spain). Phone: +34-958246273. E-mail: hugocd@ugr.es
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Abstract

This research deals with assessing humor appreciation and highlights some of the strategies that can be used in two necessary stages in the construction of a test: the content validity study and the item analysis. First, we analyzed the content validity of a battery of 200 items developed to assess humor appreciation. Second, we analyzed the metric properties of the selected items by means of two studies. The first study was a pre-pilot analysis of the items in a sample of 212 participants, and the second study was a new item analysis in a sample of 344 Spanish people aged between 18 and 71 years. To determine content validity, we calculated interjudge agreement on item-facet theoretical match. Each item was assessed by seven judges, and the selection criterion used was a minimum agreement of 70%. This procedure led to eliminating 27 items.

Subsequent item analyses led to a preliminary proposal for a 40-item scale (Escala de Apreciación del Humor, EAHU [Humor Appreciation Scale]) with appropriate descriptive statistics as well as discrimination and homogeneity values. The internal empirical structure of the scale matched the operative definition of humor appreciation, and the Cronbach’s alpha of the EAHU scores ranged from .72 to .89.

El presente estudio aborda la problemática de la valuación de la apreciación del humor, a la vez que se pormenorizan algunas de las estrategias que pueden usarse dentro de dos de las fases de necesaria ejecución dentro de todo proceso de construcción de un test: el estudio de la validez de contenido y en el análisis de ítems. En primer lugar, se analizó la validez de contenido de una batería de 200 ítems desarrollada para evaluar la apreciación del humor. En segundo, y a través de dos estudios independientes, se analizaron las propiedades métricas de los ítems seleccionados. El primer estudio se trató de un análisis pre-piloto de los ítems a través de una muestra de 212 participantes, y el segundo fue el análisis de ítems propiamente dicho a partir de una muestra de 344 participantes españoles con edades comprendidas entre los 18 y los 71 años. Para determinar la validez de contenido se calculó el acuerdo inter-jueces sobre el gado de pertenencia teórica item-faceta. Cada ítem fue evaluado por siete jueces y el criterio de selección se baso en un nivel de acuerdo mínimo del 70%. Este procedimiento condujo a la eliminación de 27 ítems. Los consiguientes análisis de ítems derivaron en una propuesta de escala preliminar de 40 ítems (Escala de Apreciación del Humor, EAHU) caracterizados por presentar unos adecuados estadísticos descriptivos a la vez que unos valores de discriminación y homogeneidad apropiados. De igual forma, la estructura interna de la escala se correspondió con la definición operativa de la apreciación del humor, presentando los distintos factores valores alfa de Cronbach que oscilaron entre 0,72 y 0,89.

Keywords

humor appreciationcontent validityitem analysistest constructionEAHUapreciación del humorvalidez de contenidoanálisis de ítemsconstrucción de testsEAHU
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , November 2009 , pp. 773 - 787
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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