Why are we weighting? The role of importance ratings in quality of life measurement.

摘要: Many Quality of Life (QoL) instruments ask respondents to rate a number life domains in terms satisfaction and personal importance, derive weighted scores by multiplying the two ratings. This paper demonstrates that this practice is both undesirable unnecessary. QoL are selected on basis their inherent rendering separate importance rating partially redundant. Weighted present difficulties interpretation. Further, we show multiplicative composites have psychometric properties. There evidence little or no advantage over unweighted ratings correlational predictive studies. Apart from face validity intuitive appeal ratings, there appear be sound reasons for doing so, several good not do so.