Citation

Deal JE. Fam. Process 2018; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Human Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Family Process Institute, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/famp.12368

PMID

29888784

Abstract

Issues of normativity (responding in a typical or average fashion) and desirability (the tendency for raters to endorse positive characteristics rather than neutral or more negative ones) are common in areas of the social sciences that frequently utilize profile correlations to measure dyadic similarity. They have implications for family scholars as well. In the present study, a pre-existing data set was used to make an initial, though limited, investigation into potential confounds of normativity and desirability for macrolevel observational assessments of family interaction. An empirical example is presented using q-sort ratings of family interaction, with variance in observational assessments decomposed into component parts. High levels of both normativity and desirability were found, indicating possible problems in terms of both reliability and validity of assessment. While the results provide an interesting beginning, they are limited due to the use of a q-sort methodology as well as an instrument with limited background and use. These limitations are discussed, as well as alternative interpretations for normativity and desirability and implications for future research.

© 2018 Family Process Institute.

Language: en

Keywords

Desirability; Family Process; Normativity; Observational Assessment; deseabilidad; evaluación observacional; normatividad; proceso familiar; 可取性; 家庭过程; 常态; 观测评估