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Dr Mike Horton

Dr Mike Horton

  • Position: Research Fellow
  • Areas of expertise: Rasch Analysis; Psychometrics; Scale Development; Scale Validation
  • Email: M.C.Horton@leeds.ac.uk
  • Phone: +44(0)113 392 2673
  • Location: D Floor, Martin Wing, Leeds General Infirmary
  • Website: Googlescholar

Profile

I am an academic researcher and the Director of Leeds Psychometric Laboratory for Health Sciences, which is one of Europe’s leading psychometric laboratories. I have over ten years of applied health research experience, focusing on psychometrics and Rasch analysis. I am the primary instructor on a range of world-renowned Rasch analysis courses, and I am also part of a broad, international multidisciplinary collaborative network which looks to shape methodological advances in patient reported outcome measures.

As Director, I provide strategic leadership and oversight for the activities of the Psychometric Laboratory, including course planning and the scientific development of the analytic procedures. As Course Leader, I have been responsible for teaching >400 students from across all five populated continents of the world. 

I completed my PhD in 2018, which focussed on psychometrics and risk prediction methodologies, specifically applied to predicting the risk of self-harm in adult prison settings.

Responsibilities

  • Director, Leeds Psychometric Laboratory for Health Sciences
  • Course Leader, Rasch Teaching Centre

Research interests

My research interests focus around measurement science and psychometrics, more specifically, implementing Rasch Measurement Theory to create measures of latent constructs. I have been involved in projects looking to develop scales for concepts such as Quality of Life and Work Instability, and I have also worked on projects assessing the quality of undergraduate medical examinations, along with assessing the scaling characteristics of various pre-existing scales that are used in the healthcare domain. The application of Rasch analytic techniques provides a basis for scale development and validation, cross-cultural/diagnostic adaptation, item banking, computer adaptive testing and path analysis. I have delivered taught content across all of these areas, which also broadly represent my research interests.

Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Leeds, 2018
  • PGC Health Research, University of Leeds, 2012
  • BSc (Hons) Sport & Exercise Science, University of Northumbria at Newcastle, 2000

Research groups and institutes

  • Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine
  • Rehabilitation Medicine