A Fragmented Field: Construct and Measure Proliferation in Psychology

We examined the extent to which constructs and measures have proliferated in psychological science. We integrated two large databases obtained from the American Psychology Association that have been used to keep track of constructs, measures, and research in the psychological-science literature for the past 30 years. In our descriptive analyses, we found that (a) thousands of new constructs and measures are published each year, (b) most measures are used very few times, and (c) there is no trend toward consensus or standardization in the use of constructs and measures; in fact, there is a trend toward even greater fragmentation over time. That is, constructs and measures are proliferating. We conclude that measurement in the psychological-science literature is fragmented, creating problems such as redundancy and confusion and stifling cumulative scientific progress. We conclude by providing suggestions for what researchers can do about this problem.