Measuring individual participation on the interdisciplinary team

In this paper we describe a scale designed to measure individual participation in interdisciplinary team meetings. Data from an observational study of team meetings at a residential institution for severely and profoundly mentally retarded persons were used to examine the measurement characteristics of the scale. Acceptable levels of interobserver agreement were found. A principal components analysis demonstrated that participation is not a unitary construct, but consists of at least five relatively independent dimensions. A generalizability study indicated that participation varies across team meetings and suggested that at least two observations are needed to obtain an adequate picture of typical participation. A sample application of the scale was described, and implications of the scale for researchers and practitioners were discussed.