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Self-Reported Capabilities Among Young Male Adults in Switzerland: Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of a German, French and Italian Version of a Closed Survey Instrument

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  • Karen Hofmann
  • Dominik Schori
  • Thomas Abel

Abstract

There is a shortage of empirical applications of the capability approach that employ closed survey instruments to assess self-reported capabilities. However, for those few instruments that have been designed and administered through surveys until now, no psychometric properties (reliability, validity, and factor structure) were reported. The purpose of this study is the assessment of the psychometric properties of three new language versions (German, French, and Italian) of an established (English) set of eight self-reported capability items. The set of items is taken from a previously published British study by Anand and van Hees (J Soc Econ 35(2):268–284, 2006 ). Our sample consists of 17,152 young male adults aged 18–25 years from the three major language regions in Switzerland. The results indicate good reliability of the three language versions. The results from the exploratory factor analyses suggest a one-dimensional factor structure for seven domain specific items. Furthermore, the results from multiple regression analyses suggest that a global summary item on overall capabilities represents a measurement alternative to the set of seven domain specific capability items. Finally, the results confirm the applicability of the closed capability instrument in a large scale survey questionnaire and represent the first attempt to measure self-reported capabilities in Switzerland. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Hofmann & Dominik Schori & Thomas Abel, 2013. "Self-Reported Capabilities Among Young Male Adults in Switzerland: Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of a German, French and Italian Version of a Closed Survey Instrument," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 723-738, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:723-738
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0170-1
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    Cited by:

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    2. Paul Anand & Laurence S. J. Roope & Anthony J. Culyer & Ron Smith, 2020. "Disability and multidimensional quality of life: A capability approach to health status assessment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(7), pages 748-765, July.
    3. René Rüegg & Thomas Abel, 2019. "The relationship between health literacy and health outcomes among male young adults: exploring confounding effects using decomposition analysis," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(4), pages 535-545, May.
    4. Susanne Ferschl & Peter Gelius & Karim Abu-Omar & Maike Till & Richard Benkert & Thomas Abel, 2022. "Exploring Well-Being and Its Correlates among Young Men Using Sen’s Capability Approach: Results from the Young Adults Survey, Switzerland (YASS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Dominik Schori & Karen Hofmann & Thomas Abel, 2014. "Social inequality and smoking in young Swiss men: intergenerational transmission of cultural capital and health orientation," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(2), pages 261-270, April.

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