Scale Application of Empirical Research in Sport Management: Common Issues and Suggestions

The purpose of this study was to discuss common issues of scale application in sport management empirical research fields. Based on analysis of 348 literature samples from 2010 to 2020, these common issues are as follows: misunderstanding the difference between single dimension scale, multi-dimension scale and questionnaire, or the function of composite reliability and Cronbach's α; neglecting reliability introduction; assessing content validity and construct validity inappropriately; neglecting common method variance(CMV); misapplying the reflective and informative indicators; misunderstanding observed indicators in scales and evaluation index. Suggestions: Composite reliability is important for internal consistency evaluation; Reevaluating reliability is necessary when reliability is introduced; Content validity index(CVI) is appropriate when assessing content validity; The suitability of research context is considered when using foreign scales; The difference between reflective and informative indicators should be observed; CMV should be inspected and controlled; Scales are not recommended to use to conduct evaluation research.