Guidelines for choosing between multi-item and single-item scales for construct measurement: a predictive validity perspective

By Adamantios Diamantopoulos, Marko Sarstedt, Christoph Fuchs, Petra Wilczynski, Sebastian Kaiser. 2012

1,587 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Establishing predictive validity of measures is a major concern in marketing research. This paper investigates the conditions favoring the use of single items versus multi-item scales in terms of predictive validity. A series of complementary studies reveals that the predictive validity of single items varies considerably across different (concrete) constructs and stimuli objects. In an attempt to explain the observed instability, a comprehensive simulation study is conducted aimed at identifying the influence of different factors on the predictive validity of single versus multi-item measures. These include the average inter-item correlations in the predictor and criterion constructs, the number of items measuring these constructs, as well as the correlation patterns of multiple and single items between the predictor and criterion constructs. The simulation results show that, under most conditions typically encountered in practical applications, multi-item scales clearly outperform single items in terms of predictive validity. Only under very specific conditions do single items perform equally well as multi-item scales. Therefore, the use of single-item measures in empirical research should be approached with caution, and the use of such measures should be limited to special circumstances.

Subfields: Marketing, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e8ce606c73d532af2fa231d379c68150c535bd03

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Citations in the corpus

Intrinsic factors affecting impulsive buying behaviour—Evidence from India (2014, background): “Though some authors argue that single-item scales are usually psychometrically inferior to multiple-item scales (Diamantopoulos et al., 2012), as pointed out by some others (Bergkvist and Rossiter, 2007; Gosling et al.”
Affective response to architecture – investigating human reaction to spaces with different geometry (2017, methodology): “According to research, the use of a summated multi-item scale is reliable in attempts to quantify emotions, opinions, personalities and descriptions of people’s environment (Gliem and Gliem 2003; Diamantopoulos et al. 2012).”
Partial least squares structural equation modeling in HRM research (2020, result): “This finding is alarming, because studies using single items may have weak predictive validity (e.g. Diamantopoulos et al., 2012).”