Environmental Attitude Scale Developed by Structural Equation Modeling

Abstract

This study aims at developing an environmental attitude scale based on two themes. The scale items were prepared by the researchers with the help of literature records and consultations with two experts. A survey consisting of 20 attitude questions was later applied to 208 teacher candidates who were selected among students attending Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University. Following the evaluation of the survey questions, 6 of the scale items previously identified were discarded. An Environmental Attitude Scale composing of 14 Likert type sentences was developed. KMO and Cronbach-alpha values of this scale were found to be 0.763 and 0.733 respectively. The Barlett Test Significance Value of this scale was smaller than 0.001. At the end of confirmatory factor analyses, the goodness of fit criteria's were found to be; X 2 /sd: 1.88; RMSEA: 0.066, SRMR: 0.062, CFI:0.90, IFI:0.90, GFI:0.92, AGFI:0.87.) SUMMARY Purpose and significance: A strong co-relation between environmental behaviour and environmental attitudes is well known. The usage of environmental attitudes in predicting environmental behaviour is therefore emphasized. The aim of this study is to develop an environmental attitudes scale, as well as to predict environmental behavior via explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses. Methods: Construction of the environmental attitude scale has several steps. Step 1. Conceptualize. In this step the attitude object the research is concerned about is determined. Variables that have measurable behaviors are chosen and identified. Step 2. Scale Construction. This step consists of the generation of the item pool which composes the scale. 14 items make up the item pool at the conclusion of this step - 11 positive, 3 negative. Step 3. Choosing a format for measurement. At this step, the format of the environmental attitude scale was chosen as the Likert Scale type. Attitude scale has five categories: Strongly suitable (5 points), Suitable (4 points), Not sure (3 points), Not suitable (2 points), Never Suitable (1 point). Step 4. Review of Item Pool by Experts. Two experts were consulted in order to validate the content of the questionnaire and to assess the quality of each item based on; clarity, ambiguity; and generality. No items were discarded at the conclusion of the experts' review. Step 5. Pilot the scale. The validity and reliability studies of the tool were conducted on 208 students from The Faculty of Education at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University. Step 6. Analysis of the items. Statistical package program (SPSS 13) and LISREL 8.0 were used for the analysis. Validity of the scale was found by factor analysis, while its reliability was found by Cronbach Alpha Technique. In addition; confirmatory factor analyses were used in order to determine the goodness of fit criteria. Results: At the end of the study, the coefficient of reliability according to Cronbach Alpha was determined as; .733, and the value of KMO was .737. Barlett test significance value was determined to be smaller than 0.001. The goodness of fit criteria was found to be; X 2 /sd: 1.88, :RMSEA: 0.066, SRMR: 0.062, CFI:0.90, IFI:0.90, GFI:0.92, AGFI:0.87 at the end of the confirmatory factor analyses. All collected data point to the reliability of the tool in measuring environmental attitudes. At the end of the factor analysis, the attitude scale was divided into two dimensions. One of the dimensions was named as having positive environmental attitude, with the other being identified as having negative environmental attitude. Discussion and Conclusions: An environmental attitudes scale consisting of 14 sentences was developed as a result of this research. The research proved the suitability of the scale values in assessing environmental attitudes. The scale here was designed for only two dimensions. Since environmental issues consist of a huge number of subjects, the design of more complicated scales (with many more dimensions) is recommended.