%A WEI Xuhua, ZHANG Lianghua %T Single-item measures: Queries, responses and suggestions %0 Journal Article %D 2019 %J Advances in Psychological Science %R 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2019.01194 %P 1194-1204 %V 27 %N 7 %U {https://journal.psych.ac.cn/adps/CN/abstract/article_4724.shtml} %8 2019-07-15 %X

Single-item measures have long been debated by researchers. Proponents advocate the efficiency of single-item measures, while opponents question reliability and validity of them. Through comprehensive qualitative and quantitative reviews, advantages and disadvantages of single-item measures are summarized, and doubts and debates in the literature are analyzed and responded specially. Through systematic review, results show that single-item measures have acceptable level of reliability and validity. More notably, the criterion-related validity of multi-item measures is not superior than single-item measures. With the review and current findings, issues that should be noted during the development and usage of single-item measures were addressed. Although multi-item measures are more acceptable, single-item measures may also have its legitimacy in academic research. That is, researchers should value the potential advantages and application scope of single-item measures, so that single-item measures can play its appropriate role in managerial psychology and social science research.