Development of the Reasoning Ways Scale: Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to determine the reasoning ways of university students. The study was carried out in two separate stages consisting of the pilot and main application in the 2020-2021 academic year. In the main application, the analysis was made on the data obtained from 378 university students. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed for the construct validity of the scale; Average Explained Variance [Average Variance Extracted (AVE)], square root of AVE, Composite Reliability [CR], Maximum Shared Variance [Maximum Squared Variance (MSV)], Average Squared Shared Variance [(Average Shared Square Variance (ASV)] and inter-construct correlations were calculated for convergent and divergent validities. The Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency and CR coefficients were calculated to examine the reliability. The Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis results showed that the scale had a seven-factor structure (deductive, inductive, analogical, heuristic, algebraic, historical, and verbal) and consisted of 21 items. Convergent and divergent validity of the scale was proved by examining AVE, square root of AVE, CR, MSV, ASV values, and inter-construct correlation coefficients. Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability coefficients which were calculated for the whole scale and each sub-dimension indicated that the scale was reliable. The results reveal that the Reasoning Ways Scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool.