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The Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) has been used in large studies such as the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). Important conclusions might be done regarding its reliability for the prediction of children’s school readiness taking advantage of such large-scale evaluation. Although BSRA has being largely used, few are the studies at item-level under latent approach investigating its psychometric features. Using data from 14,899 2–3-year olds who participated in the MCS, we used Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis to examine multidimensionality of the subtests of the BSRA and their consistencies, specificities, and reliabilities. We found clear indications of multidimensionality. From the 88 items, 10 showed low reliability. Future research may consider excluding these low reliability items to improve the psychometric properties of the BSRA and its use as multidimensional measurement tool.

The study applies the fuzzy approach to measuring material deprivation from a multidimensional perspective. By taking into account the intensity of deprivation this approach goes beyond the conventional research using the deprived/non-deprived dichotomy. The study is based on the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data including a set of nine-item material deprivation indicators adopted by all European Union countries. In order to examine the effects of social reforms introduced by the Polish government in 2016, it focuses on the situation of Polish households in 2015 and 2017. The study aims to identify correlates of material deprivation in Poland using the zero-inflated beta regression model. This model enables to understand the mechanisms behind the risk and the intensity of material deprivation. Moreover, the study provides evidence that households with at least three children experienced meaningful improvement during the studied period. This is probably due to the introduction of the ‘Family 500+’ programme supporting mainly large families.

EnglishThe evidence that individuals’ happiness and general well-being are closely related has made happiness a frequently studied topic in the last decades. Studies showed that happiness has several dimensions and that these are dependent, amongst others, of cultural, economic, and social factors. The aim of this study was to validate a measure that identifies possible dimensions of happiness having as a starting point the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. An online questionnaire with socio-professional items and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire was used. A sample of 1032 individuals from several Portuguese higher education establishments was collected, of which 581 (56.3%) were students, 257 (24.9%) were faculty members, and 194 (18.8%) were non-teaching staff. The sample was divided into two subsamples: sample 1 (n=508) and sample 2 (n=524). A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed on sample 1, followed by Covariance Based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM) on sample 2. The PCA presented results, consistent with the existing theory, for a three-factor model. CB-SEM identified several items with significant correlations with more than one latent variable, which were eliminated from the model. A valid model (CFI=.95; TLI=.94; AGFI=.95; RMSEA=.04) was obtained, with three dimensions: Joy (six items); Positivism (nine items); and Reliability (two items). We conclude that a threedimension model is valid for the population under study and should be applied to other populations to deepen the conclusions. These three dimensions may serve as a basis to better understand what influences our happiness and propose interventions to promote it. portuguesA evidencia de que a felicidade e o bem-estar geral dos individuos estao intimamente relacionados fez da felicidade um tema frequentemente estudado nas ultimas decadas. Estudos demonstraram que a felicidade tem varias dimensoes e que estas dependem, entre outros, de factores culturais, economicos e sociais. O objectivo deste estudo foi validar uma medida que identifica possiveis dimensoes da felicidade, tendo como ponto de partida o Questionario da Felicidade de Oxford. Foi utilizado um questionario online com itens socioprofissionais e o Questionario Oxford da Felicidade. Foi recolhida uma amostra de 1032 individuos de varios estabelecimentos de ensino superior portugueses, dos quais 581 (56,3%) eram estudantes, 257 (24,9%) eram docentes e 194 (18,8%) eram pessoal nao docente. A amostra foi dividida em duas subamostras: amostra 1 (n=508) e amostra 2 (n=524). Foi realizada uma Analise de Componentes Principais (APC) na amostra 1, seguida de Modelacao da Equacao Estrutural Baseada na Covariância (CB-SEM) na amostra 2. A APC apresentou resultados, consistentes com a teoria existente, para um modelo com tres factores. A CB-SEM identificou varios itens com correlacoes significativas com mais do que uma variavel latente, que foram eliminados do modelo. Foi obtido um modelo valido (CFI=.95; TLI=.94; AGFI=.95; RMSEA=.04), com tres dimensoes: Alegria (seis itens); Positivismo (nove itens); e Fiabilidade (dois itens). Concluimos que um modelo tridimensional e valido para a populacao em estudo e deve ser aplicado a outras populacoes para aprofundar as conclusoes. Estas tres dimensoes podem servir como base para compreender melhor o que influencia a nossa felicidade e propor intervencoes para a promover.

Purpose This study aims to examine the emotional components of brand hate and the variation of emotions across different levels of brand hate. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 uses in-depth interviews and data triangulation. Studies 2-5 make use of quantitative methods to test and validate the multidimensional structure of brand hate and the variation of its composing emotions. Findings Study 1 suggests that brand hate is a multidimensional construct comprised of anger-, sadness- and fear-related emotions; possible antecedents and consequences are discussed. The quantitative results from Studies 2-5 confirm the findings in Study 1. A three-factor scale consisting of nine items is developed. The proposed model is tested among different samples and is compared with the currently available brand hate models. In addition, the findings show that emotions weigh differently for different brand hate levels. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the brand hate literature and provides a structure to understand brand hate more thoroughly. Practical implications Companies can benefit from the research through a better knowledge of brand hate. Managers can use the multidimensional measurement to detect brand hate and better cope with it. Originality/value This study is among the first few attempts to examine the multidimensionality of brand hate and to investigate the variation of emotions in different brand hate levels. This study contributes to a more precise description of the brand hate construct and improves understanding of consumer-brand relationships.

This book makes a significant contribution to the regional studies and fiscal federalism literature by, first and foremost, providing a theoretically driven and multidimensional measurement of loca...

Santander Financial Institute (SANFI) [2/2015-2017]; Banco Santander - University of Cantabria (Official Bulletin of Cantabria) [236]

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of the profile of cultural entrepreneurs (CE), in terms of their demographic characteristics and resources, on the performance of cultural and creative firms (CCFs).,Departing from demographic theory and resource-based view, two hypotheses have been formulated and empirically tested, using a multiple regression model, with a sample of 80 Spanish CCFs. The CCF performance has been measured through two objective (employment growth and profitability) and one subjective/perceptual measurements (satisfaction of the CE with the attainment of objectives).,With respect to the demographic variables, a negative relationship between the CE’s age and employment growth, and a partial positive influence of the CE’s prior experience on employment growth and the subjective measurement of performance have been found. Regarding to the CE’s resources, the empirical evidence shows that there is no direct relationship between the CE’s possession of any resources studied − financial, knowledge and social connections − and CCF performance.,This work makes three important contributions as it analyses the CE and focuses on CCF management, a topic little discussed in the entrepreneurship literature. Second, there is an analysis of some of the variables pertaining to the entrepreneur’s demographic profile that have been applied to top management teams and in a more or less isolated way in the entrepreneurship area. And, finally, a multidimensional measurement is used to explain the CCF performance.,El proposito de este articulo es analizar la influencia del perfil de los emprendedores culturales (EC), en relacion a sus caracteristicas demograficas y los recursos que posee, sobre el rendimiento de las empresas culturales y creativas (ECCs) creadas y dirigidas por ellos.,A partir de la Teoria Demografica y la Teoria Basada en los Recursos, se han formulado dos hipotesis que han sido testadas empiricamente, usando un modelo de regresion multiple, sobre una muestra de 80 ECCs espanolas. Para medir el rendimiento de la ECC, se han utilizado dos medidas objetivas (crecimiento del empleo y rentabilidad) y una subjetiva (grado de satisfaccion del EC con la consecucion de los objetivos).,El estudio realizado pone de manifiesto, respecto a las variables demograficas, una relacion negativa entre la edad del EC y el crecimiento del empleo, y una influencia positiva parcial de la experiencia previa del EC sobre el crecimiento del empleo y la medida subjetiva del rendimiento. En cuanto a los recursos del EC, nuestros resultados muestran que no existe relacion directa entre la posesion de los recursos analizados —financieros, de conocimiento y sociales— y el rendimiento de la ECC.,Este trabajo realiza tres contribuciones importantes, ya que analiza la figura del CE, centrandose en la direccion de las ECCs, un tema poco estudiado en la literatura de emprendimiento. Se estudian algunas variables del perfil demografico del emprendedor que han sido aplicadas a equipos de alta direccion y de manera mas o menos aislada en el campo del emprendimiento. Y, finalmente, se utiliza una medida multidimensional para explicar el rendimiento de las ECCs.

This study investigates street-level bureaucrats’ enforcement style and its underlying dimensions by developing and validating a multidimensional measurement scale. Developing a measurement scale for enforcement style is relevant because the number of underlying dimensions is contested and studies developing measurement scales are scarce. This complicates cross-sector and cross-national comparisons. Using a survey among inspectors of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, street-level enforcement style is found to comprising three dimensions: (1) legal, (2) facilitation, and (3) accommodation. This study contributes to more validated measurement instruments by presenting a 13-item measure that can be used to study street-level bureaucrats’ enforcement style.

Addressing the debated topic of credibility in online sales, the present study analyses buyer's perspective. The study develops from the literature to test and refine a multi-dimensional measurement of e-shops credibility. Consumer's criteria for assessing e-shops credibility are empirically examined with 817 Romanian student participants. Detailed approach and methodology, as well as the results obtained, research conclusions, limitations, and implications, are presented. The study advances an instrument which reveals new dimensions of establishing credibility although most aspects were found to be similar to results previously presented in other studies. The proposed instrument offers a new multidimensional measurement and knowledge resources for business committed to using Internet advantages, and it might be viewed as a strategic tool which enables e-shops owners to strengthen their market presence, e-sales and customer base through an adequate management of the knowledge regarding online credibility.

Although the effects of nationalized mega-events on national identification have been theorized and examined by a number of studies, little is known about the specific mechanisms that bring about changes in people’s attitudes towards their country. The authors hypothesize that during nationwide rituals, in particular sports mega-events, participants experience collective emotional entrainment in the context of national symbols and practices that in turn increases their identification with their nation. The authors present results of a naturalistic quasi-experimental study around the 2012 uefa European Football Championship with participants from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Poland. Using a multidimensional measurement of national identification, the authors show that the experience of emotional entrainment is associated with changes in symbolic, civic, and solidary facets of identification in ways specific to the different national contexts.

Growing interest in measurement invariance (MI)/equivalence for nonachievement measures across heterogeneous populations in an international context also demands an examination of current criteria ...

Investigating the structure and assessing the psychometric properties of Likert scales before their application is a prerequisite of scaling theory. However, there are instances in the literature where Likert scales that were developed as a multidimensional measurement of the underlying construct have been applied without first validating their structure and reporting on their reliability. In this paper, to discourage such applications, the required sequence of decisions for such an investigation and assessment based on current theory and practice is demonstrated using the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire Short-form (PSQ-18), a six-dimensional Likert measurement instrument. Although the findings did not confirm the dimensionality of the PSQ-18, they did provide an overall valid and reliable scale, emphasizing the need of validating its structure before application.

Han sido muchos y muy diversos los instrumentos que se han desarrollado en los países anglosajones para evaluar el clima escolar. Sin embargo, todavía no existe ningún instrumento de medida ampliamente aceptado y validado en castellano que, a través de distintas dimensiones, evalúe de manera equilibrada los aspectos principales que la mayoría de las investigaciones defienden como componentes del clima escolar. Para tratar de solventar esta limitación, el objetivo de este estudio es elaborar un nuevo instrumento de medida de la percepción sobre el clima escolar y analizar su validez de constructo y convergente. Participaron en la investigación 480 estudiantes de Álava y Madrid de entre 12 y 18 años (M = 14.91; DT = 1.49), de los cuales 286 (59.6%) eran mujeres y 194 (40.4%) hombres. El alumnado participante cumplimentó dos cuestionarios: el PACE (clima escolar) y la versión adaptada al castellano del School Engagement Measure (implicación escolar). Los análisis realizados permiten seleccionar los ítems más adecuados para la medida multidimensional del clima escolar. El cuestionario presenta una consistencia interna y validez externa adecuadas. En consecuencia, el nuevo cuestionario consigue superar la limitación de otros instrumentos de medida creados con anterioridad y se discute el procedimiento a seguir en orden a continuar con la validación del mismo.

El objetivo del artículo es realizar la medición multidimensional de la pobreza a nivel intraurbano en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua en el año 2012. La metodología que aplicó fue la misma que desarrolló Coneval en 2010 para su medición multidimensional de la pobreza a nivel nacional, estatal y municipal. Para poder aplicar la metodología de Coneval a nivel intraurbano se propuso como alternativa la construcción de las unidades de análisis territorial (UTA) mediante una técnica de análisis multivariado. Los resultados permiten identificar las UTA de la ciudad en donde la pobreza se padece con una mayor incidencia, intensidad y profundidad, lo cual es una poderosa herramienta para el diseño de políticas públicas focalizadas en el territorio. Las áreas de la ciudad que se localizan en el poniente y suroriente presentan los mayores rezagos sociales. Una de las principales limitaciones del estudio fue la imposibilidad financiera de ampliar el levantamiento de la encuesta con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de la estimación.

espanolEl objetivo de este articulo es realizar observaciones de primer y segundo orden, desde las ciencias de la complejidad, al indicador que el Consejo Nacional de Evaluacion de la Politica de Desarrollo Social (CONEVAL) utiliza para conceptualizar y medir el derecho a la educacion en la metodologia multidimensional de la pobreza, con la finalidad de realizar una propuesta preliminar que contribuya a resolver la forma de aproximarse a su medicion. La metodologia utilizada fue una adaptacion de Amozurrutia (2012), en la que se realiza una aproximacion epistemologica con base en los niveles de observacion de primero y segundo orden de Luhmann (2007). Losresultados indican que el caracter de indivisibilidad e interdependencia del derecho a la educacion conforman un factor que posibilita la complejidad, por lo cual se tiene que tomar en cuenta su interrelacion con otros derechos sociales establecidos en la Ley General de Desarrollo Social. EnglishAbstract The aim of this article is to make first and second order observations, from the sciences of complexity, to the indicator that the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL) uses for conceptualizing and measuring the right to education in the multidimensional measurement of poverty, in order to make a preliminary proposal that may contribute to the discussion of how to approach a way for its measurement. The methodology utilized was an adaptation of a proposal from Amozurrutia (2012) using an epistemological approach based on the observations of first and second level of Luhmann (2007). The results of the analysis indicate that the indivisibility and interdependence features of the rights to education are factors that enable complexity, but it is important to take into account its inter relationship with other social rights established in the General Law of Social Development

This article explores difficulties that arise when culture is factored into the attempt to develop methods for both describing and measuring religiousness or spirituality as variables in health research. The author uses a report titled Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research published by the John E. Fetzer Institute to raise questions about the extent to which basic ideas associated with the study of Judeo-Christian religions are meaningful in contexts such as Japan, India, or China. Using a combination of ethnographic data from his own fieldwork in Japan and ethnographic literature focused on other cultures, the author argues that as an analytic category “religion” is problematic because basic elements of that category, such as faith or the notion of the transcendent, have been developed in terms of a predominately Christian or Western theological framework that is not necessarily appropriate for research in non-Western cultural contexts.

Playing entertainment computer, video, and portable games, namely, digital games, is receiving more and more attention in academic research. Games are studied in different situations with numerous methods, but little is known about if and how the playing situation affects the user experience (UX) in games. In addition, it is hard to understand and study the psychology of UX in games. The objective of this study is to show how UX differs when the first-person shooter HALO is played in a laboratory and at home. To disclose this difference, a psychologically valid and multidimensional measurement framework is introduced. UX is profiled according to the level of the sense of presence, involvement, and flow in a between-subjects design. Statistically, the structure of the framework is grounded on a large and heterogeneous gamer data set (N = 2,182). The results showed that the profile of the sense of presence in the laboratory included higher levels of attention and arousal as compared with that of the natural...

Binary designation of a residential neighbourhood as either traditional or suburban is a distortion of reality, since a location may have some characteristics of both types and since residents in different parts of the neighbourhood may perceive its character differently. This paper presents and applies a methodology for assessing neighbourhood type that results in a measure that is continuous rather than binary, disaggregate rather than aggregate, and potentially multidimensional. Specifically, 18 variables identified by the literature as distinguishing traditional and suburban locations are measured for 852 residents of 5 San Francisco area neighbourhoods. These data are factor-analysed to develop scales on which each individual has a person-specific score. Although we expected a single 'traditionalness' dimension to result, instead we found two factors: traditional and suburban. Study neighbourhoods could and did score highly on both dimensions, and considerable individual variation within neighbourhood was observed. By more accurately capturing the complexity in classifying a neighbourhood and the heterogeneity of individual perception within a neighbourhood, use of this methodology to measure neighbourhood type is expected to improve models involving residential location as an endogenous or exogenous variable.

While the complexity of death attitudes has been recognized, the measurement of different dimensions of the concept is problematic. Through analysis of data collected from 587 undergraduate students, a 15-item instrument was developed which measures three attitudinal factors: avoidance of death symbols and the dead (death avoidance), reluctance to confront death processes (disengagement from death), and fear of personal death (death fear). Internal consistency reliabilities are adequate for each factor; alpha coefficients range from.71 to.76. Tests of discriminant and predictive validity indicate that the instrument may have research utility.