The Effects of Method Variance Within Measures

Despite concern about method variance between measures as a bias in survey research, scholars have overlooked or ignored the effects of method variance within measures (i.e., covariation among items from the same scale that may be attributed to the method of measurement employed). Not only do few commonly used survey instruments reflect efforts to control for method variance, but guides to scale construction encourage researchers to implement strategies that enhance the effects of method variance within measures. In this article, we have argued that when method variance inflates relationships between questionnaire items, traditional psychometric indices overestimate the amount of true or construct variance that scales capture. Implications for survey research that uses fixed alternative questionnaire measures are delineated.