Reconsidering the implications of formative versus reflective measurement model misspecification
Year of publication
2023
Authors
Aguirre‐Urreta, Miguel I.; Rönkkö, Mikko; Marakas, George M.
Abstract
The literature on formative modelling (“formative measurement”) in the information systems discipline claims that measurement model misspecification, where a reflective model is used instead of a more appropriate formative model, is widespread. In this research, we argue that this cannot be true because models misspecified in this way would fail the measurement validation procedures used with reflective models and thus would not be publishable. To support this argument, we present two extensive simulation studies. The simulation results show that in most cases where data originates from a formative model, estimating a reflective model would not produce results that satisfy the commonly used measurement validation guidelines. Based on these results, we conclude that widespread publication of models where the direction of measurement is misspecified is unlikely in IS and other disciplines that use similar measurement validation guidelines. Moreover, building on recent discussions on modelling endogenous formatively specified latent variables, we demonstrate that the effects of misspecification are minor in models that do pass the model quality check. Our results address important issues in the literature on the consequences of measurement model misspecification and provide a starting point for new advances in this area.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Journal
Publisher
Volume
Early View
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
3
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
No
Self-archived
Yes
Other information
Fields of science
Computer and information sciences; Business and management
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publication country
United Kingdom
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
Yes
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1111/isj.12487
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes