haochengw372-hash Communication Scale
Overview
This Skill runs the Measurement/Scale Gate: it prevents treating a convenient Likert translation as a validated scale and stops cross-group comparisons before invariance is established.
Locate-first protocol
Before writing items, locate:
- scale compendiums and measurement reviews in communication;
- validation papers in Communication Methods and Measures and allied journals;
- the original scale paper and published appendices with full items;
- existing validated translations for the target language/culture.
For each candidate record: source journal, validation samples, reliability (coefficient alpha and omega where reported), validity evidence (content, construct, discriminant, criterion), original response format, scoring, and original context/population/language.
Scale-sheet format
Construct:
Scale name and citation:
Items (verbatim, with original numbering):
Response format and anchors:
Scoring (reverse-coding, averaging/summing, subscales):
Reliability evidence (alpha/omega, samples):
Validity evidence:
Original context (population, language, medium):
Adaptation status (original / translated-unvalidated / validated adaptation):
Decision:
Adaptation protocol
For cross-language or cross-cultural use, do not treat a back-translation as validation. Run, in order:
- translation by a qualified translator;
- independent back-translation;
- expert review of discrepancies (construct equivalence, item equivalence);
- cognitive pretest with target-population respondents;
- pilot study for item behavior;
- confirmatory factor analysis of the intended structure;
- measurement invariance: configural, metric, and scalar (at minimum metric before comparing relations, scalar before comparing means);
- reliability estimation on the new sample.
Any item modification (wording, format, short form, platform context) invalidates the original validity evidence and triggers revalidation.
Decision rules
- Use the existing scale when it fits the construct definition and the target population.
- Use an existing validated translation when one exists and its invariance evidence is documented.
- Adapt only with the full protocol; never present the adaptation as the original scale's validity.
- If no scale fits the construct definition, return to the construct gate: this is a measurement-development project, not a scale-selection task.
Common anti-patterns
- Reporting alpha as the only psychometric evidence.
- Citing a scale's validity after shortening it or changing response anchors.
- Claiming cross-cultural validity from a single WEIRD validation sample.
- Comparing group means without scalar invariance.
- Writing "adapted from X" while using items the source never validated.
See references/scale-adaptation.md for the step-by-step adaptation and invariance checklist.