Adaptation of Attitude Scale towards the Treatment of Animals to Turkish: A Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to adapt to Turkish the Attitude Scale towards the Treatment of Animals (ASTA). At the first stage, the linguistic validity of the translated scale was examined by utilizing the data obtained from 4 expert academicians and 24 university students. Upon satisfaction of the linguistic validity requirements, item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed, respectively. For this aim, the five-point Likert Scale composed of 30 items was administered to a total of 218 teachers to be enrolled in prospective biology and science departments of Kazim Karabekir Faculty of Education in Ataturk University. After item analysis and Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed, it was ascertained that the scale consisted of 19 items and three factors (pets, pests and profit). In order to analyse the triple factorial structure of the ASTA, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was carried out and the findings indicated that 19-item scale resulting in three factors is consistent and compatible with the data. Cronbach’s Alpha for the overall scale was calculated as 0.827. As a result, the findings of this study indicate that the Turkish ASTA is a valid and reliable scale for Turkish students.