Papers by Matthias Bluemke
Journal of Personality Assessment, May 1, 2023
Intellectual curiosity—the tendency to seek out and engage in opportunities for effortful cogniti... more Intellectual curiosity—the tendency to seek out and engage in opportunities for effortful cognitive activity—is a crucial construct in educational research and beyond. Measures of intellectual curiosity vary widely in psychometric quality, and few measures have demonstrated validity and comparability of scores across multiple languages. We analyzed a novel, six-item intellectual curiosity scale (ICS) originally developed for cross-national comparisons in the context of the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adults Competencies (PIAAC). Samples from six countries representing six national languages (US, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, and Japan; total N = 5,557) revealed that the ICS possesses very good psychometric properties. The scale is essentially unidimensional and showed excellent reliability estimates. On top of factorial validity, the scale demonstrated strict measurement invariance across demographic segments (gender, age groups, educational strata) and at least partial scalar invariance across countries. As per its convergent and divergent associations with a broad range of constructs (e.g., Open-Mindedness and other Big Five traits, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Job Orientations/Vocational Interests), it also showed convincing construct validity. We recommend the ICS for assessing intellectual curiosity, especially in cross-cultural research applications, yet we also point out future research areas.
This survey includes sociodemographic items, and scales and questions about death anxiety, other ... more This survey includes sociodemographic items, and scales and questions about death anxiety, other death-related attitudes (e.g., mortuary preferences), and religious beliefs, behaviour, and experiences. Data was collected from the USA, Brazil, Russia, the Philippines, and South Korea
Intellectual curiosity-the tendency to seek out and engage in opportunities for effortful cogniti... more Intellectual curiosity-the tendency to seek out and engage in opportunities for effortful cognitive activity-is a crucial construct in educational research and beyond. Measures of intellectual curiosity vary widely in psychometric quality, and few measures have demonstrated validity and comparability of scores across multiple languages. We analyzed a novel, six-item intellectual curiosity scale (ICS) originally developed for cross-national comparisons in the context of the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adults Competencies (PIAAC). Samples from six countries representing six national languages (US, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, and Japan; total N = 5,557) confirmed that the ICS possesses very good psychometric properties. The scale is essentially unidimensional and showed excellent reliability estimates. On top of factorial validity, the scale demonstrated strict measurement invariance across demographic segments (gender, age groups, educational strata) and at least partial scalar invariance across countries. As per its convergent and divergent associations with a broad range of constructs (e.g., Open-Mindedness and other Big Five traits, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Job Orientations/Vocational Interests), it also showed convincing construct validity. Given its internal and external relationships, we recommend the ICS for assessing intellectual curiosity, especially in cross-cultural research applications, yet we also point out future research areas.
Measurement instruments for the social sciences, Dec 1, 2020
Around this time of the year 2020, we celebrate the second anniversary of the journal Measurement... more Around this time of the year 2020, we celebrate the second anniversary of the journal Measurement Instruments for the Social Sciences. We are pleased with what the journal has achieved over the course of roughly two years. The starting point for the journal's inception was the heart-felt need of aiding scientists with documenting their endeavors for sound measurement of specific constructs-be these constructs from sociological, psychological, educational, or economic contexts. And yet, the journal focus is clearly broader than that. It pertains to any methodological advances in the field of survey research and social research in general, and it likewise reflects the accumulative knowledge gathered on all kinds of measurement in the social sciences, whether drawn from the context of international social surveys or large-scale assessments in education. All these aspects together should render its content highly practical. Best practice for item generation, issues of questionnaire translation and adaptation, and the overarching topic of achieving cross-cultural comparability and validity-these topics are too easily forgotten when authors experience the heat of trying to sell their ideas to substantive journals.
... my dissertation project. The CDSS sessions were very helpful. I would like to especially than... more ... my dissertation project. The CDSS sessions were very helpful. I would like to especially thankPatrick Müller and Matthias Blümke for the great collaboration in the ongoing research project. I gratefully acknowledge their encouragement, comments and methodological input. ...
Measurement instruments for the social sciences, Jan 19, 2021
Measures of cognitive or socio-emotional skills from large-scale assessments surveys (LSAS) are o... more Measures of cognitive or socio-emotional skills from large-scale assessments surveys (LSAS) are often based on advanced statistical models and scoring techniques unfamiliar to applied researchers. Consequently, applied researchers working with data from LSAS may be uncertain about the assumptions and computational details of these statistical models and scoring techniques and about how to best incorporate the resulting skill measures in secondary analyses. The present paper is intended as a primer for applied researchers. After a brief introduction to the key properties of skill assessments, we give an overview over the three principal methods with which secondary analysts can incorporate skill measures from LSAS in their analyses: (1) as test scores (i.e., point estimates of individual ability), (2) through structural equation modeling (SEM), and (3) in the form of plausible values (PVs). We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method based on three criteria: fallibility (i.e., control for measurement error and unbiasedness), usability (i.e., ease of use in secondary analyses), and immutability (i.e., consistency of test scores, PVs, or measurement model parameters across different analyses and analysts). We show that although none of the methods are optimal under all criteria, methods that result in a single point estimate of each respondent's ability (i.e., all types of "test scores") are rarely optimal for research purposes. Instead, approaches that avoid or correct for measurement error-especially PV methodology-stand out as the method of choice. We conclude with practical recommendations for secondary analysts and data-producing organizations.
Diagnostica, Jul 1, 2019
Zusammenfassung: Die deutsche Version des Big Five Inventars 2 (BFI-2) erfasst die 5 Persönlichke... more Zusammenfassung: Die deutsche Version des Big Five Inventars 2 (BFI-2) erfasst die 5 Persönlichkeitsdomänen Extraversion, Verträglichkeit, Gewissenhaftigkeit, Negative Emotionalität (Neurotizismus) und Offenheit sowie insgesamt 15 Persönlichkeitsfacetten mit 60 Items. Das Inventar wurde im Rahmen eines mehrstufigen Übersetzungsprozesses vom Englischen ins Deutsche übertragen. Anhand einer nach Alter, Geschlecht und Bildungsabschluss quotieren Bevölkerungsstichprobe (N = 1 224) wurden Reliabilität, Validität und Messinvarianz über Geschlechter und Altersgruppen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Studien deuten auf gute Reliabilitäten der Domänenwerte und ausreichende Reliabilitäten der Facettenwerte hin. Einzelitems und die Facettenwerte zeigen erwartungskonforme Ladungsmuster. Die Domänen-und Facettenwerte korrelieren erwartungsgemäß mit anderen Persönlichkeitsinventaren und sind mit Kriterien wie Bildungsabschluss, Einkommen, Gesundheit und Lebenszufriedenheit assoziiert. Strukturgleichungsmodelle belegen die residuale Invarianz über Geschlechter. Die durchschnittliche Bearbeitungszeit beträgt 8 Minuten. Normwerte für die deutsche Allgemeinbevölkerung werden berichtet.
An adaptive cognition approach to evaluative priming is not compatible with the view that the ent... more An adaptive cognition approach to evaluative priming is not compatible with the view that the entire process is automatically determined by prime stimulus valence alone. In addition to the evaluative congruity of individual prime-target pairs, an adaptive regulation function should be sensitive to the base rates of positive and negative stimuli as well as to the perceived contingency between prime and target valence. The present study was particularly concerned with pseudocontingent inferences that offer a proxy for the assessment of contingencies from degraded or incomplete stimulus input. As expected, response latencies were shorter for the more prevalent target valence and for evaluatively congruent trials. However, crucially, the congruity effect was eliminated and overridden by pseudocontingencies inferred from the stimulus environment. These strategic inferences were further enhanced when the task called for the evaluation of both prime stimuli and target stimuli.
European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2022
Sense of coherence (SOC) describes an individual's ability to deal with life challenges (manageab... more Sense of coherence (SOC) describes an individual's ability to deal with life challenges (manageability), comprehend the environment (comprehensibility), and perceive life and its challenges as meaningful (meaningfulness). We examine measurement invariance (MI) of the SOC-13 scale across gender and age groups in a matched sample of N = 1,816 (50% females; age range 16-83 years). A two-factor model, with a common factor for manageability/comprehensibility items and a second factor for meaningfulness items, best represented the SOC-13 in all groups. Full metric, partial scalar, and full strict invariance held across gender groups. Across age groups, full metric, partial scalar, and partial strict invariance could be established. We conclude that SOC-13 is a reliable and valid measure. Measurement is comparable across gender and age.
Many reasons may justify landlords' discrimination against Turks on Cologne's apartment rental ma... more Many reasons may justify landlords' discrimination against Turks on Cologne's apartment rental market. A pretest surveyed possible concerns landlords might have to put ethnic minorities at a disadvantage. We tested the effectiveness of corresponding countermeasures in the main study. We surveyed N = 96 participants (landlords and estate agents) with a total of 384 e-mails, asking for inspection dates. One of the four e-mails each participant received was from an alleged German. The other three e-mails were from alleged Turkish applicants. Apart from confirming a bias in line with ethnical discrimination, there was evidence for the efficacy of countermeasures.
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Papers by Matthias Bluemke