“Toward a Taxonomy of Multidimensional Constructs”

Article by Law, Kenneth S., Wong, Chi-Sum, and Mobley, William H. ( 1998 ) in Academy of Management Review, 23:4.

 

This paper classified multidimensional constructs into 3 different types, i.e. latent model, profile model and aggregate model. The basis used for the classifications were: (i) the relations between construct and its dimensions, (ii) the interpretation of the nature of the construct, and (iii) the definition of true variances of the construct.

 

Researchers need to consider the appropriate type of the construct as different type carries different interpretation of nature, different definition of true variance, and different theoretical meanings. The authors argued that proper conceptualization of constructs with regards to this classification is very important for three main reasons:

1. Definition of the Research Question – “without correct specifications of the relations between multidimensional constructs and their dimensions (the main basis of argument of this paper), one would set up research hypotheses at the construct level, conduct analyses at the dimensional level but make conclusions at the construct level”.
2. Theoretical Parsimony – “only when the interrelations between a multidimensional construct and its dimensions are specified can we derive overall and parsimonious conclusions about the role of the multidimensional construct in its nomological network”.
3. Relations with Other Constructs – Different specifications of the relations between the multidimensional construct and its dimensions were proven resulting differences in parameter estimates. Therefore, the specifications must be done properly as incorrect specifications during the construct conceptualization will definitely lead to wrong conclusions.

 

I prepare my note in diagram form for easy understanding, and I put it here for everybody to understand well about the three models of multidimensional construct:

Multidimensional Construct