SELECTION AND USE OF CONTENT EXPERTS FOR INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT

Content experts frequently are used in the judgment-quantification sta ge of content validation of instruments. However, errors in instrument ation may arise when important steps in selecting and using these expe rts are not carefully planned. The systematic process of choosing, ori enting, and using content experts in the judgment-quantification stage of instrument development is addressed, with particular attention to the often neglected, important step of familiarizing these experts wit h the conceptual underpinnings and measurement model of the instrument . An example using experts to validate content for a measure of caregi ver burden is used to illustrate this stage of instrument review. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.