Validating Instruments in MIS Research

Calls for new directions in MIS research bring with them a call for renewed methodological .rigor. This article offers an operating paradigm for renewal along dimensions previously unstressed. The basic contention is that confirmatory empirical findings will be strengthened when instrument validation precedes both internal and statistical conclusion validity and that, in many situations, MIS researchers need to validate their research instruments. This contention is supported by a survey of instrumentation as reported in sample IS journals over the last several years. A demonstration exercise of instrument validation follows as an illustration of some of the basic principles of validation. The validated instrument was designed to gather data on the impact’of computer security administration on the incidence of computer abuse in the U.S.A. This work was carded out under the auspices of International DPMA (Data Processing Management.Association). It was supported by grants from IBM, IRMIS (Institute for Research on the Management of Information Systems, Indiana University Graduate School of Business) and the Ball Corporation Foundation. An earlier version of this article appeared as "Instrument Validation in the MIS Research Process," Proceedings of the Annual Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Conference, F. Bergeron (ed.), Whistler, B.C., June 1986, pp. 103-118. Keywordsi MIS research methodology, empirical measurement, theory construction and development, content validity, reliability, construct validity, internal validity ACM Categories: H.0, J.0