Development and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Organisational Communication in Primary Schools Questionnaire

John De Nobile

doi:10.3390/educsci10120372

Abstract

This article describes the development and subsequent testing of scales representing functions and features of school communication among staff in Australian primary schools using the Organisational Communication in Primary Schools Questionnaire (OCPSQ). The OCPSQ was developed to measure aspects of communication occurring vertically between school leadership and staff members and horizontally among staff members. Elements of classical, human relations, and cultural theories were used to guide questionnaire development. Items were developed to represent theorised communication constructs derived from previous literature. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the underlying structure of aspects of communication. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed as a validation of the OCPSQ and its constructs. An interpretable ten-factor solution, representing salient functions and features of organisational communication, was established. Scales generated by the OCPSQ were found to have high reliabilities. The scales represented supportive, directive, cultural, and democratic functions, as well as features of communication relating to openness and load.

Highlights

Organisational communication has been investigated by researchers in various contexts, mostly relating to business and corporate management [1,2]
Confirmatory factor analysis was employed as a validation of the Organisational Communication in Primary Schools Questionnaire (OCPSQ) and its constructs
The second section reports on the results of Stage 1 of the confirmatory factor analysis, which involved estimation of each latent variable representing communication constructs, sometimes referred to as measurement models [74]

Summary

Introduction

Organisational communication has been investigated by researchers in various contexts, mostly relating to business and corporate management [1,2]. The research that does exist has focused on a single or small number of aspects of communication, often in relation to school climate, leadership, or teacher effectiveness [3,4,5,6]. These studies have reported useful findings about how organisational communication influences various facets of school work and perceptions of work environments. Taking job stress as another example, different studies have reported a range of aspects of organisational communication that may influence this job attitude, such as information overload [12], direction from the principal [13], and interactions related to participation in decision-making [14]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion