Towards an end of measurement misspecification in tourism research: Grammar of theoretical constructs, focus of thought and mind traps

This article introduces a new perspective on theoretical constructs to help minimizing confusion regarding measurement mode choice in tourism research. In particular, this article uses the grammatical structure of theoretical constructs as contextual framework to explain various mind traps that may mislead proper measurement specification. On the one hand, it is argued that awareness about the precise grammatical structure of constructs may help the researcher to keep the initial focus of thought, which, in turn, helps to avoid reflective versus formative misspecification when modeling theoretical constructs. On the other hand, it is further argued that some constructs, in fact, leave the realm of psychological assessments, which is why a direct reflective approach no longer applies. The suggested guidelines are rather simple, but may help clarifying several misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding formative versus reflective measurement specification for a range of popular tourism constructs.