Measuring facets of job ambiguity: construct validity evidence

In the past 2 decades, the importance of role ambiguity as an organizational variable has been well established. Recently, researchers have suggested that the lack of an instrument capable of measuring different facets of ambiguity may have impeded both theory development and application of research results. This article presents the development of an instrument capable of tapping 3 distinct aspects of job ambiguity (work method, scheduling, and performance criteria). Data relevant to the reliability, validity, and importance of the job ambiguity measures were gathered in a series of 4 studies. The results of several statistical analyses suggest that the 3 job ambiguity scales are reliable, valid, and meaningful.