These items have generally been offense-specific items that refer to behaviors as diverse as drug use, theft, and violence. The justification for the construction of composite scales has been based upon either the face validity of the item's content or simple factor analyses and reliability checks. This article more carefully examines the measurement properties of common scales employed in perceptual deterrence research. It is found that (1) the pooling of items across offenses and (2) the pooling of subsamples cannot be done indiscriminately. The effect of such indiscriminate pooling of items and subjects on a structural equation model of the deterrence process is examined. (Author abstract)
Downloads
Related Datasets
Similar Publications
- Negotiating Ethical Paradoxes in Conducting a Randomized Controlled Trial Aligning Intervention Science With Participatory Values
- Forensic analysis of Salvia divinorum using multivariate statistical procedures. Part I: discrimination from related Salvia species
- Differential Decomposition Among Pig, Rabbit, and Human Remains