Communication and coordination questionnaire followup

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A while back (2013 - sorry I can't find the post here) I was feeling frustrated and generated a questionnaire about autistic symptoms from the perspective of an autistic person. I posted one version on my website, got some data (mostly people from here), posted a revised version, left it for two years, and decided to take it down this week while cleaning house.

Both questionnaires were 15 questions, in both binary (yes/no) and 5-point Likert scale (1-disagree strongly – 5-agree strongly) versions (since I couldn’t decide which was better).

Here are the two versions:

CCQ Version 1.0
1. I have noticeable problems with coordination.
2. I often have a hard time understanding what people say.
3. I usually look fairly well put together when I get dressed in the morning. (reverse scored)
4. I often have a hard time figuring out what people want.
5. I usually find it easy to understand what people mean when they say things. (reverse scored)
6. I find it seriously hard to make friends.
7. I can switch gears fairly easily. (reverse scored)
8. I have a hard time getting people to understand me.
9. I can figure out how people feel fairly easily. (reverse scored)
10. I find it hard to talk to people I don't know.
11. I am pretty good about figuring out what to say on the spur of the moment. (reverse scored)
12. I have a hard time getting across how I feel.
13. I have enough social support when it really matters. (reverse scored)
14. I get overwhelmed easily by too many different things going on.
15. I have weird sleep/wake patterns.

CCQ Version 1.1
1. I am physically uncoordinated to the point where it's a significant problem for me.
2. I often have a hard time understanding what people say.
3. I am good at navigating social norms when I want to. (reverse scored)
4. I often have a hard time figuring out what people want.
5. I often need time for things to sink in before I understand what people mean when they say things.
6. I find it hard to make friends when I want to.
7. I can switch from one task to another fairly easily when outside circumstances demand it. (reverse scored)
8. I have a hard time getting people to understand me.
9. I can figure out how people feel fairly easily. (reverse scored)
10. I find it hard to talk to people I don't know.
11. I am pretty good about figuring out what to say on the spur of the moment. (reverse scored)
12. I have a hard time getting across how I feel.
13. I am good at creating a social support network for myself when I need to. (reverse scored)
14. I get overwhelmed easily by too many different things going on.
15. I have weird sleep/wake patterns.

I only got one non-autistic person for the first version, so didn't bother charting them. Here are the results:
Version 1.0, binary (yes/no)


Version 1.0, Likert scale (1-disagree strongly - 5-agree strongly)


Version 1.1, binary (yes/no)


Version 1.1, Likert scale (0-disagree strongly - 4-agree strongly)


And here are the combined results for the questions that were the same in both versions:
Combined results, binary (yes/no):


Combined results, Likert scale (0-disagree strongly - 4-agree strongly):


Comments:

To do a scale properly, first you need to pick a bunch of questions that address the issue at hand. Then you need to try them out on people. Then you do a factor analysis to see how many different concepts you are measuring, and how they relate to each other. For example, say you are measuring three different personality traits in one questionnaire. Items need to load on only one factor (rather than two or more, or none) - you don’t want ambiguous questions, you want questions that separate the wheat from the chaff. Once you’ve done this, you weed out the bad questions, add some more, retest, reanalyze. Over and over again if need be to get a scale that measures what you want to measure, and not what you don’t. Examples of scales that were developed this way: the EPQ-R; various versions of the big five personality inventory; the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Examples of scales that were not developed this way: The Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire (Hartmann got as far as the first factor analysis and didn’t go any further for some reason); the SQ, EQ and AQ (they’ve been analyzed but as far as I know nothing’s been weeded out because it loaded on the wrong thing, even though the EQ contains some questions that appear to be more about the ability to communicate well than about empathy).

I was originally going to do all this but have lost the impetus. However I could gear back up again if there were a demand.

I haven’t checked for sex or age differences. I figure I don’t have enough data for that. But I could do that.

Questions:

Should I do more work on this?

If I were going to develop this further, I’d add questions on schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders to see if I could distinguish them from autism (since I think they get lumped in with ASDs these days). Also, there’s recent research showing that late talkers and regular talkers are different between the ears, and questions to separate those groups might be useful, too. Any other factors to include?

To what extent would it be important to separate out subtypes, and to what extent would it be better to have a general autism scale? (Are there good scales out there that people can do that actually look at at disability and not just autistic-like traits?)

How long or short should it be?

Binary or Likert scale?

If nothing else, I will at least post pdf/html versions of the charts/questions on my website.