ABSTRACT
The literature on Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) has grown rapidly, but discussions of underlying measurement theory are, for the most part, scattered and scanty. Furthermore, most of those discussions have been brief theoretical reflections of personal preferences regarding general measurement issues. Rare indeed has been the presentation of actual data designed to test in practical application the adequacy of the Kiresuk and Sherman model, their formula for calculating a summary score, or any basic psychometric property of that summary score. Moreover, a vague uneasiness or uncertainty pervades much of the literature on the measurement properties of GAS. That uncertainty is addressed in this chapter, which presents a comprehensive treatment of major measurement issues. Although the topics have been arranged in a reasonably logical sequence, not all of these topics will be of interest to every reader. Because each section is relatively complete in itself, it is possible to skip some sections and read only those of special interest without much loss of continuity.
