Developing an Instrument to Measure Keyboarding Style: Obtaining Content Validity

Abstract

There is no observational instrument that can be used to document hand and finger use during computer keyboarding that may put a user at risk for musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity (MSD-UE). This paper describes a method used to obtain content validity for a new observational instrument, the PeCKS (Evaluation of Personal Computer Keyboarding Style), which can be used to document and assess these parameters of keyboarding style. Parameters of keyboarding style that might be risk factors for MSD-UE were developed through a review of the literature and interviews with MSD-UE experts. From these parameters a beta-1 version of the PeCKS was created and sent to seven experts to rate the content. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated to establish the agreement between raters concerning each parameter's importance as a risk factor for MSD-UE. There was good agreement among the raters about the importance of each parameter in the PeCKS (beta-1) and for the overall instrument. The instrument was subsequently modified and refined based on the experts' feedback.