Multitrait-Multimethod Matrices

Introduction

A multitrait-multimethod matrix (MTMM) refers to a matrix of correlations among multiple theoretical/empirical constructs (traits), each of which is defined operationally by a common set of measurement procedures (methods). Convergence and divergence principle provide a framework underlying the use of MTMM matrices in construct validation research: different operationalizations of a particular construct are expected to measure that construct (convergence) whereas constructs with different labels are expected to refer to different theoretical entities when measured by the same method (divergence). Developed over the past four decades, a large number of analytic methods are now available to analyse MTMM matrices.

Perhaps the most provocative challenge to logical positivism and its core concept of operational definitions of scientific concepts came from the pioneering work of Campbell and Fiske (1959). ...