The scalability of behavioral expectation scales as a function of developmental criteria

Conducted a scalogram analysis of the items on behavioral expectation scales (BES) to test the assumption that such scales are unidimensional and cumulative. The effects of varying developmental criteria on the scalability of BES were also examined. BES items developed for faculty evaluation were randomly ordered on a checklist and presented to 48 undergraduates. The reproducibility coefficients of the original scales ranged from .65 to .81. Analyses indicated that higher coefficients resulted from a free ordering of items or elimination of items on the basis of applying a more stringent standard deviation criterion. Reallocation percentage agreement did not affect reproducibility. Scalogram analysis is suggested as an addition to BES developmental procedures. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).