Addressing Construct Intensity in Entrepreneurship: Log-Transformed Guttman Scaling with Need for Achievement as Exemplar

Abstract

Abstract Unlike physical science, entrepreneurship lacks measurement units through which to quantify constructs properly. This study explores the viability of logarithmically transformed Guttman scaling (GS). Need for Achievement (nAch), a quintessential entrepreneurial feature, illustrates the technique’s application. A valid and reliable 10-item Guttman nAch scale is developed, its unidimensionality psychometrically confirmed. Compliant with measurement theory, the scale offers concatenatable units that quantify nAch intensity. GS is a viable complement to psychometric methods, a useful addition to entrepreneurship’s methodological repertoire. Researchers are encouraged to expand their view of entrepreneurial constructs. Also approaching them from an intensity perspective offers fertile ground for future inquiry.