Measurement Instruments For Ergonomics Surveys - Methodological Guidelines
Measurement Instruments For Ergonomics Surveys - Methodological Guidelines
1. Introduction
Ergonomic surveys are very important tools to evaluate and identify problems in
workplaces such as industries, hospitals, and laboratories. Strategies to tackle the ergonomic
issues can be proposed based upon the results of the surveys. Therefore, the surveys should
be carefully prepared to obtain information in a clear and reliable way. Usually, ergonomic
surveys rely upon measurement instruments (questionnaires) that are applied to workers on
the workplace to collect the necessary information.
In this chapter, we present a description of methodological guidelines used to prepare a new
questionnaire or to adapt an already developed one.
The first step in developing a questionnaire is to clearly define the questions (construct) you
want to answer with the ergonomic survey (Snyder et al., 2007). Based upon those
questions, careful searching for questionnaires that have already been used to similar cases
should be done. Having found questionnaires that measure exactly what you want, further
analysis should be carried out about the questionnaire language and the sample which it
was applied.
With the growth of the number of questionnaires developed for a specific culture, their use
in other countries, cultures, and languages has become an important tool with the cross-
cultural adaptation process (Beaton et al., 2002). Minor changes in the original questionnaire
can be done to better adapt it to your purposes.
So, how to decide if it is better to use an existing questionnaire or to create a new one?
There are some advantages in using existing questionnaires: time saving in developing a
questionnaire based upon steps suggested in literature; possible comparisons with
previous studies involving the same questionnaire; psychometrical properties analysis in
different situations; and no necessity to develop the administration and analysis
processes.
Sometimes it is necessary to change some specific terms in existing questionnaires to fulfill
all the requirements of the intended construct. In those cases, a content validity process
should be carried out to check whether the proposed changes are misunderstood (Wynd et
al., 2003).
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120 Ergonomics – A Systems Approach
On the other hand, when no questionnaires are found to measure the intended construct, new
questionnaires can be developed. In those cases, there are steps recommended by the scientific
community that guide the development of the questionnaire, such as items selection, domains
development, and evaluation of the psychometric properties (Lynn, 1986; Streiner & Norman,
1995; Polit & Hungler, 1995; Turner et al., 2007; Snyder et al., 2007). In general, developing a
new questionnaire is a long, laborious process. Therefore, a new questionnaire should be
developed only if there are no other questionnaires for the same construct.
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Measurement Instruments for Ergonomics Surveys – Methodological Guidelines 121
professionals with large experience on the topics covered by the questionnaire. The
professionals receive the translations, the synthesis, the back-translations, and
instructions about how to carry out the evaluation of the questionnaire content. After a
detailed analysis, the professionals produce a pre-final version of the adapted
questionnaire.
e. Pre-test: With the pre-final version of the questionnaire, a pre-testing is carried out in a
sample of typically 40 subjects (Beaton et al., 2000). Each of the subjects fill the
questionnaire and is interviewed about the understanding of the items, words, and
easiness of the filling the questionnaire. During this step, the subjects can point out
difficulties and suggest modifications to improve the instrument. If the suggested changes
are significant and extensive, another analysis of the expert committee is necessary. At the
end of this step a final version of the adapted questionnaire is obtained.
Researchers are following these steps when performing a cross-cultural adaptation process
(Vigatto et al., 2007; Gallasch et al., 2007; Toledo et al., 2008; Coluci & Alexandre, 2009;
Coluci et al., 2009) and it is possible to verify that they used carefully methods in order to
conduct the process in a reliable way.
It is important to note that, often, one can find in the literature questionnaires that measure
the construct to be evaluated with good psychometric properties. After permission of the
original authors of the questionnaire, it is possible to use it without making modifications if
the recommendations presented in the instrument are followed.
However, one must be careful when using an instrument ever built. When it was created,
were the psychometric properties evaluated with the same population you intend to study?
If the answer to this question is "yes", you can use the questionnaire with greater tranquility,
but you must verify whether the cultural context and the situation are similar to yours.
If the answer is "no", you should evaluate the psychometric properties of this questionnaire
to the other population. This probably can occur when you choose to use a questionnaire to
assess a construct in a generic form, i.e., when it is not designed to a specific population. An
example of this situation is the study conducted by Shimabukuro et al. (2011), which aimed
to adapt a generic questionnaire that evaluates the workers’ perception regarding job factors
that can contribute to musculoskeletal symptoms to physical therapists. The authors made
some changes in the questionnaire’s content and evaluated the psychometric properties with
the specific population.
And why is it important to check these properties again? It is simple. Applying a
questionnaire to a population different from that involved in the study during its
development process, one can find different results (better or worse) than the original.
Therefore, such assessment can demonstrate if the questionnaire is also reliable and valid for
the other population.
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122 Ergonomics – A Systems Approach
The following steps are suggested: definition of the conceptual structure; definition of the
target population and the objectives of the instrument; development of the domains and
selection of the items; organization of the instrument; evaluation of the content validity and
pre-test; and finally the evaluation of the psychometric properties.
a. Definition of the conceptual structure: This step aims to help an initial development of the
items and domains. Some methods can be used in this stage such as literature search,
interviews with specialists in the field and/or with subjects of the target population,
focus groups, other questionnaires analysis, and meetings with a referee committe
(Benson & Clark, 1982; Berk, 1990; Turner et al., 2007).
b. Definition of the target population and the objectives of the instrument: It is important to
characterize the target population in order to justify the relevance of a specific
questionnaire (Turner et al., 2007). It is also fundamental to establish a link between
the concepts involved and the development of the questionnaire (Fagarasanu &
Kumar, 2002).
c. Development of the domains and selection of the items: The domains to be investigated with
the questionnaire are listed based on the relevance of the proposed survey (Snyder et
al., 2007). The selection of the items of the questionnaire can be obtained through
literature search and interviews with subjects of the target population and specialists in
the field (Streiner & Norman, 2002; Turner et al., 2007). The literature search should be
carried out in databases, looking for related constructs and questionnaires in order to
determine reference constructs. The interviews with the target population aim to
determine individual perceptions about the involved aspects and provide important
preliminary data during the development of the questionnaire. The interviews with
specialists allow to verify the content to be explored with the questionnaire.
d. Organization of the instrument: At this step, the items are organized in their respective
domains and a final form for the questionnaire is prepared which includes title,
instructions, and response scale. The response scale type and scores are determined
based upon the easiness for understanding and answering by the subjects, and
evaluating by the researchers (Turner et al., 2007).
e. Evaluation of the content validity: This is an essential step in the development of a new
questionnaire. It allows associating abstract concepts with measurable and observable
quantities (Kirshner & Guyatt, 1985). Details of this step will be provided in section 8 of
this chapter.
f. Pre-test: The pretest should be applied in a sample of the population in order to verify the
understanding of the new questionnaire. After the administration of the questionnaire,
the investigator should interview each subject individually and ask him/her about the
understanding of words and items as well as about the procedures of filling in their
answers. Modifications can be made according to the suggestions of these subjects. When
the changes are significant, it is important to be evaluated and approved again by the
expert committee that carried out the content validity. After this phase, the measuring
instrument is completed and its psychometric properties can be studied.
g. Evaluation of the psychometric properties: The evaluation of the psychometric properties of
a new questionnaire is one of the most important steps because it allows verifying the
validity and reliability of the instrument to be used in other research and/or
ergonomics practices. When we create a questionnaire, we intend to disclose it to the
scientific community. If the questionnaire shows good psychometric properties, it can
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be widely used by other researchers. Therefore, its use can be widespread whether it is
well constructed and evaluated.
The techniques to verify the psychometric properties will be explained in sections 8 and 9 of
this chapter.
It can be noted that recent studies involving the development of new questionnaires are
following these steps (Farias et al., 2008; Buysse et al., 2010; Bergman et al., 2011; Giesler et
al., 2011; Marant et al., 2011; Young et al., 2011). These studies showed the steps of literature
review on the topic being discussed and literature review on other scales that could be used
for the same purpose. Furthermore, some researchers consulted experts with experience on
the area of interest during the selection of domains and items (Farias et al., 2008; Bergman et
al., 2011); others conducted focus groups and semi-structured interviews to obtain relevant
information for the generation of items (Buysse et al., 2010; Young et al., 2011); and others
have conducted interviews with a sample of the target population in order to obtain
important suggestions during the developing of the conceptual model of the questionnaire
(Giesler et al., 2011; Marant et al., 2011).
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124 Ergonomics – A Systems Approach
Grant & Davis, 1997). It is also suggested the participation of lay persons related to the
target population of the questionnaire (Tilden et al., 1990; Rubio et al., 2003).
In cases involving cross-cultural adaptation, a multidisciplinary committee is suggested
(Hutchinson et al., 1996). In this case, the committee would be formed by bilingual
specialists that know the concepts and measures involved (Guillemin et al., 1993).
The evaluation by the judges can involve both quantitative and qualitative procedures (Tilden
et al., 1990; Burns & Grove, 1997; Hyrkäs et al., 2003). The process begins with an invitation of
the judges that receive instructions and a specific questionnaire for the evaluation (Grant &
Davis, 1997). A letter of invitation should explain the reason because the specialist was chosen,
the relevance of the involved concepts, and overall explanation of the questionnaire (Lynn,
1986; Grant & Davis, 1997), including the aim of the survey, the scales used, and the adopted
score (Davis, 1992; Rubio et al., 2003). The letter can also include conceptual and theoretical
foundations from the questionnaire (Davis, 1992) and information about the target population.
If lay persons will compose the committee, a description of the educational level of the
members can be specified in the letter (Rubio et al., 2003).
Initially, the judges should analyze the coverage of the questionnaire, i.e., if each domain has
been covered by the selected set of items (Tilden et al., 1990). In this stage, the committee can
include or remove items of the questionnaire (Rubio et al., 2003). Then, a detailed analysis of
the items is performed individually. The committee should evaluate the clarity on the writing
of each item to guarantee that each item is not misunderstood (Grant & Davis, 1997). The
committee also should analyze if the number of items are adequate and relevant to reach the
aims of the survey (Grant & Davis, 1997; McGilton, 2003). Suggestions by the judges to
improve specific items can be done at this stage (Tilden et al., 1990; Rubio et al., 2003).
The dynamics of the evaluation process by the judges can occur either individually by each
judge followed by a group discussion or interactively through interviews and discussions
about the controversial points (Grant & Davis, 1997).
To quantify the level of agreement among the specialists during the evaluation of the
content validity, different methods can be used:
a. Percent agreement score: The agreement between the specialists (in percentage) is
quantified by the ratio of the number of specialists that agree with each other and the
total number of specialists (Tilden et al., 1990; Hulley et al., 2003). This is the simplest
method to determine the level of agreement (Topf, 1986) and has been used on the
initial determination of the items (Tilden et al., 1990; Grant & Davis, 1997). The
simplicity in the calculation is an advantage of this method. However, some limitations
forbid the use of this method in all cases (Topf, 1986). This methods should be used
considering an agreement of 90% among the specialists (Topf, 1986; Polit & Beck, 2006).
b. Content validity index: This method quantifies the proportion of judges that agree about
some specific aspect of the questionnaire and its items. It is used commonly on the
health field (Wynd & Schaefer, 2002; Hyrkäs et al., 2003; McGilton, 2003).
The method allows analyzing each item individually and also the questionnaire as a whole
through the use of a Likert-like scale with score from 1 to 4. The numbers express the level of
changes/understanding the judge had about the item. For example, the following definitions
can be applied: (i) 1 = not representative, 2 = needs major revision to become representative,
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3 = needs minor revision to become representative, 4 = representative (Lynn, 1986; Rubio et al.,
2003), or (ii) 1 = not clear, 2 = unclear without item revision, 3 = clear but needs minor
modifications, 4 = very clear (Hyrkäs et al., 2003; Wynd et al., 2003; DeVon et al., 2007).
The content validity index for each item of the questionnaire is then calculated by the ratio
of the number of answer with scores “3” and “4” and the total number of answers (Grant &
Davis, 1997; Wynd et al., 2003). Items with score “1” and “2” should be revised or even
removed.
To evaluate the questionnaire as a whole, different ways can be used. For instance, Polit and
Beck (2006) presented three ways: (i) use of the average of the proportions of the items
considered by the specialists; (ii) use of the sum of all indexes calculated separately divided
by total number of items analyzed; and (iii) use of the ratio of the total number of items
considered as relevant by the specialists and the total number of items.
It is also important to define acceptable agreement rate. Some authors consider the number
of specialists on the evaluation of the individual items. When the number of specialists is
less than 5, all should agree (rate equal to 1) for an item to be considered as relevant. For a
number of 6 or more specialists, the rate should not be less than 0.78 (Lynn, 1986; Polit &
Beck, 2006). Some authors suggest a minimal rate of 0.80 to check the validity of new
instruments (Davis, 1992; Grant & Davis, 1997) however the recommended rates should be
larger than 0.90 (Polit & Beck, 2006).
c. Kappa coefficient: The kappa coefficient is the ratio of the proportion of the number of
specialists that agreed and the maximum proportion that the specialist could agree
(Hulley et al., 2003, Siegel & Castellan, 2006). It is useful when the data are divided in
categories and represented nominally (Siegel & Castellan, 2006). The values of kappa
are in the range of -1 (no agreement) to 1 (total agreement) (Hulley et al., 2003).
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research. It is almost impossible to recover the questionnaire whether the subject, even
with reminders sent by the researcher, does not return the instrument. Another
disadvantage is the number of blank or invalid answers, because the subject can try to
answer the questionnaire in a sequence different from what the researcher would like
and this may influence the responses.
8. Summary
This chapter provides useful information for researchers interested in evaluating surveys on
ergonomics. The instrument used to obtain data – questionnaires – should be carefully
chosen based on the target population, constructs intended to be measured, existence of
similar questionnaires, methods of administration, and psychometric properties. For
questionnaires previously developed for a different language and/or culture, the chapter
also presents the steps to a cross-cultural adaptation. If a new questionnaire is really
necessary, which is decided after a careful analysis, the procedures to develop it are also
explained. Finally, in order to show that the questionnaire is suitable for the target
population and whether it measures what is intended to, the types of evaluation of the
psychometric properties - reliability and validity - are described.
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130 Ergonomics – A Systems Approach
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Ergonomics - A Systems Approach
Edited by Dr. Isabel L. Nunes
ISBN 978-953-51-0601-2
Hard cover, 232 pages
Publisher InTech
Published online 25, April, 2012
Published in print edition April, 2012
This book covers multiple topics of Ergonomics following a systems approach, analysing the relationships
between workers and their work environment from different but complementary standpoints. The chapters
focused on Physical Ergonomics address the topics upper and lower limbs as well as low back musculoskeletal
disorders and some methodologies and tools that can be used to tackle them. The organizational aspects of
work are the subject of a chapter that discusses how dynamic, flexible and reconfigurable assembly systems
can adequately respond to changes in the market. The chapters focused on Human-Computer Interaction
discuss the topics of Usability, User-Centred Design and User Experience Design presenting framework
concepts for the usability engineering life cycle aiming to improve the user-system interaction, for instance of
automated control systems. Cognitive Ergonomics is addressed in the book discussing the critical thinking
skills and how people engage in cognitive work.
How to reference
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Marina Zambon Orpinelli Coluci (2012). Measurement Instruments for Ergonomics Surveys - Methodological
Guidelines, Ergonomics - A Systems Approach, Dr. Isabel L. Nunes (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0601-2, InTech,
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