Advancing Psychometrics in Uganda’s Institutions of Higher Learning with Emphasis on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

Abstract

In Uganda and other countries, many academic research projects are carried out in various disciplines e.g., health, social, behavioral sciences, etc., especially for an academic award. Data gathering to measure the attributes of the study is sometimes carried out by applying instruments with incomplete scale development although a large amount of technical literature on scale theory and development exists. Experts in psychometrics advise researchers to use existing and validated instruments suited for an attribute or construct for measurement in one’s research project to obtain reliable and valid data or undertake the comprehensive and scientifically rigorous process of developing an instrument to use for one’s research project. This observational and documentary study has addressed the knowledge and practical gaps in scale development while carrying out scientific inquiry informed by the fundamental concepts in psychometrics theory which is often not a part of graduate training in Uganda’s institutions of higher learning.