Exploratory Confirmatory Factor Analysis Research Articles

The Reliability and Validity of Colorectal Cancer Fatalism Scale in Turkish Language: A Methodological Study

The aim of this study is to perform the Turkish validity and reliability study of the Colorectal Cancer Fatalism Scale. This methodological study was carried out between June 2016 and December 2017 in a province in the east of Turkey. A total of 200 healthy individuals aged 40 years and above constituted the population of the study. Demographic Information Form and Colorectal Cancer Fatalism Scale were used in the study. The scale consists of 15 questions with dichotomous answers. The data obtained from the sample were analyzed using exploratory-confirmatory factor analyses and internal validity coefficient. Local ethics committee approval was obtained for the study, and all stages were completed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The content validity index of the scale was found to be 0,96. The analysis of principal components revealed all item factor loads to be above 0,30 and the total variance explained to be 34,77%. In confirmatory factor analysis, the x2/SD value was found 1,13, whereas the GFI, AGFI, CFI fix index value was 0,99, the RMSEA value was 0,056 and the SRMR value was 0,010. The KR-20 coefficient of the scale was found to be 0,80. The results show that the Colorectal Cancer Fatalism Scale has a single factor structure and is a valid and reliable measurement tool in Turkish Language.

The roots of legitimacy in ethnic-cultural festivals and their influence on residents’ loyalty: an analysis of two Brazilian Oktoberfests

PurposeLegitimacy is a classic theme, quite present in organisational studies in general, but in the field of tourism it still has room to advance. For that reason, this research seeks to delimit the concept of legitimacy and adapt it to the context of tourism events; and seeks to validate a measurement instrument that allows to evaluate of its recognition in the imagination of residents, and to evaluate the impacts of this construct on residents’ trust in the organisers of Brazilian Oktoberfest, on the negative externalities of those events and, ultimately, on the achievement of residents’ loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThe locus of the research are the cities of Blumenau, Santa Catarina and Santa Cruz do Sul, Santa Catarina, both located in southern Brazil, whose residents answered an online questionnaire about the legitimacy of the Oktoberfest held there. A total of 365 valid questionnaires were collected, tabulated in statistical software and interpreted using exploratory-confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results show that festival legitimacy is a theoretical construct that can be measured as either a first-order or second-order factor, consisting of three factors, called moral legitimacy, pragmatic legitimacy and cognitive legitimacy.Originality/valueThis research provides a valid and reliable tool for assessing local residents' acceptance of ethno-cultural festivals. It also shows variations in the perception of legitimacy, demonstrating that this can influence other aspects of residents' perception of ethnocultural events.

The hallmarks of high-quality online tutoring: a higher ed MM-GT study

ABSTRACT Tutoring promotes student achievement, academic independence, and the reduction of anxiety. While ample studies support tutoring for enhancing student success, few address how to evaluate tutoring. This quandary led to research in building and testing a meta-model that identified the hallmarks of one-on-one high-quality online tutoring. Theoretical and data-driven models were constructed using a mixed method-grounded theory (MM-GT) design, and items were developed. Three latent variables emerged following exploratory-confirmatory factor analyses: tutor efficacy, student-centered, and instructional approach. The hallmarks of high-quality online tutoring were identified as: (a) Tutor efficacy of platform; (b) Use of multiple modalities; (c) Engagement evidenced as multiple back-and-forth utterances; (d) Appropriately paced interactions; (e) Use of open-ended inquiry; (f) Accessing and building on prior knowledge; (g) Support of student efforts and (h) Ensuring understanding through clarifying and/or checking-in with the tutee. Limitations of this study, implications for tutor management through quality checks, and further research studies are discussed.

Measuring the Effectiveness of the Project Management Information System (PMIS) on the Financial Wellness of Rural Households in the Hill Districts of Uttarakhand, India: An IS-FW Model

The study aims to measure the effectiveness of the project management information system (PMIS) and its impact on financial wellness in rural areas. The study uses DeLone and McLean’s updated information success model to measure the net impacts of the PMIS on the community. The dynamics between the PMIS and financial wellness have not yet been clarified, as the available literature on the concerned domain is very limited; thus, further research is required to report the effect of the PMIS on financial wellness. A total of 628 samples were analyzed from 666 collected through structured questionnaires and stratified sampling from 21 hill blocks from the hills of Uttarakhand. Exploratory-confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were both conducted using SPSS and AMOS. The study found that PMIS quality, information quality, and service quality are significantly important for the PMIS, and its impact on the net benefits derived from PMIS was studied. The results also reveal that the net benefits of the system impact the financial behavior and financial attitudes of SHGs and cooperative members, consequently significantly impacting financial wellness. This study proposes and tests the information system (IS) financial wellness (FW) model for community-based development programs in the lines of the logical framework approach and the stimulus-organism-response framework.

Investigating the Role of Physical and Digital Environment on Creating Active School with Respect to the Mediating Role of Social Environment

Reform Document of Education (FRDE), creating active schools by relying on environmental potentialities is the goal with utmost significance; therefore, the present study aimed to explore the role that physical and digital environments play in achieving this objective. To this end, a descriptive-correlational design was utilized to probe the perception of teachers and physical education experts (n=302) sampled from a population including 892 personnel of the Education Department of Guilan. Data were obtained using a 5-point Likert scale, and 30 experts judged the face and content validity. The reliability and construct validity of the scale was checked and confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha (α=.87) and exploratory-confirmatory factor analysis. Using SPSS 22 and PLS3 for data analysis, researchers found that physical, social, and digital factors effectively created an active school environment .31, .23, and .29 percent of the variances. Moreover, Social context as the mediating variable was correlated with physical and digital environment .30 and .34, respectively. Relying on the findings of this research trend, policymakers and managers can enrich the physical and digital environments of the schools and move towards accomplishing principle 6.6 of FRDE, which highlights the role of the social environment in an effective educational system.

Scales to Assess Knowledge, Motivation, and Self-Efficacy for HIV PrEP in Colombian MSM: PrEP-COL Study

Objective We evaluated the construct validity Spanish version of knowledge, stigma, norms, and self-efficacy scales regarding PrEP in MSM. Methods Sample of 287 MSM. Exploratory confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory were used to validate the constructs. Correlations and confidence interval-based estimation of relevance analyses were conducted to correlate the scales with willingness and intention to use PrEP. Results Attitude, stigma, and descriptive and subjective norms scales showed good construct validity and were related to intention and willingness to use PrEP. However, the knowledge scale and self-efficacy scales require further refinement. Conclusions The study provides useful information for assessing information, motivation, and self-efficacy related to PrEP use. Our results could be used to test the scales and the theoretical model in other contexts to confirm their usefulness.

Cognitive, Affective, and Feedback-Based Flexibility - Disentangling Shared and Different Aspects of Three Facets of Psychological Flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility – the ability to adjust one ´s behavior to changing environmental demands – is crucial for controlled behavior. However, the term ‘cognitive flexibility’ is used heterogeneously, and associations between cognitive flexibility and other facets of flexible behavior have only rarely been studied systematically. To resolve some of these conceptual uncertainties, we directly compared cognitive flexibility (cue-instructed switching between two affectively neutral tasks), affective flexibility (switching between a neutral and an affective task using emotional stimuli), and feedback-based flexibility (non-cued, feedback-dependent switching between two neutral tasks). Three experimental paradigms were established that share as many procedural features (in terms of stimuli and/or task rules) as possible and administered in a pre-registered study plan (N = 100). Correlation analyses revealed significant associations between the efficiency of cognitive and affective task switching (response time switch costs). Feedback-based flexibility (measured as mean number of errors after rule reversals) did not correlate with task switching efficiency in the other paradigms, but selectively with the effectiveness of affective switching (error rate costs when switching from neutral to emotion task). While preregistered confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided no clear evidence for a shared factor underlying the efficiency of switching in all three domains of flexibility, an exploratory CFA suggested commonalities regarding switching effectiveness (accuracy-based switch costs). We propose shared mechanisms controlling the efficiency of cue-dependent task switching across domains, while the relationship to feedback-based flexibility may depend on mechanisms controlling switching effectiveness. Our results call for a more stringent conceptual differentiation between different variants of psychological flexibility.

The Sense of Belonging Amongst Tourism Students in Brazil: An assessment comparing perceptions of bachelor and associate degree students.

Abstract: This work analyzes the profiles of undergraduate students of tourism at two public universities in the south of Brazil, aiming to understand the motivations that led them to choose a career in tourism, and how they integrate themselves into the social fabric and appropriate the university as their own. It is a descriptive and predominantly quantitative study, focusing on undergraduate students enrolled in different types of career paths: a bachelor’s degree and a technologist degree (similar to an associate degree) in tourism. Primary data on the students were collected through a structured questionnaire, with questions related to the students’ personal profiles, their route of entry to the universities, their motivations for studying tourism at those universities, and their sense of belonging to the university and to the city in general. The data were analyzed using Exploratory/Confirmatory Factor Analysis (E-CFA) to test factors brought from the literature, a Structural Equation Model Analysis to assess the relationships between the factors, and mean comparisons to identify significant differences between universities and groups. The results confirmed that the motivations for choosing to major in tourism are influenced by the opinions of others and by the convenience at the university; they also confirmed that the motivations for choosing tourism as a career influence social integration and the sense of academic belongingness.

Structure of ADHD/ODD Symptoms in Spanish Preschool Children: Dangers of Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Evaluation of Rating Scales.

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is often used to evaluate attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptom ratings by parents and teachers. An ADHD-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), and ODD three-factor model is usually the best model. Acceptable CFA models, however, can hide symptoms with poor convergent and discriminant validity. To demonstrate this issue, CFA models (i.e., cross-loadings set to zero) along with exploratory CFA models (i.e., cross-loadings allowed) were applied to parent (n = 308) and teacher (n = 258) ratings of ADHD/ODD symptoms with Spanish preschool children (Mage = 4.78, SD = .84, 56% boys). While the three-factor CFA model provided an acceptable-fit with moderate to substantial symptom-factor loadings, the three-factor exploratory CFA model, however, found a large number of the symptoms failed to show convergent and discriminant validity. These outcomes argue for the use of exploratory CFA procedures in the initial evaluation of ADHD/ODD rating scales.

Competitive performance as a substitute for competiveness measurement in tourism destinations: an integrative study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address a new method to evaluate the competitiveness of tourist destinations based on competitive performance from the consumers’ perspective. The main objective is to assess the sources of relative strength and weakness perceived in a destination, and to evaluate its performance vis-à-vis to the main competitors identified by tourists through measurement indexes.Design/methodology/approachThe strengths and weaknesses of the focal destination were identified by plotting 12 tourism-specific variables (attractors) and 12 business-related variables in importance-performance matrix (IPA) grids. The set of destinations identified as “the main competitors” were built according to the frequency they were mentioned, and the indicators of competitiveness were estimated by averaging variables representing dimensions identified by exploratory-confirmatory factor analysis. The variables were aggregated into dimensions to permit comparisons in relation to the main competitors.FindingsThe results suggest that tourism-specific variables converge to “tourist attractions” and “conviviality,” and that business-related variables converge into “accessibility,” “infrastructure” and “macrostructure.” The competitiveness against competition was evaluated twice: by using an IPA grid to evaluate competition against “all others,” and by comparing the factors of performance across the most cited competitors. The results show that the focal destination surpasses most of its main competitors in conviviality, but has some deficiencies in tourist attractions, and that dimensions representing the business-related variables fit in the middle.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors acknowledge that competitive performance, used as surrogate for competitiveness, is fairly limited once it does not consider the supply side potential forces that also influence the destination competitiveness (DC) at large. But although limited to the demand side, the proxy used to assess (DC) is in accordance with previous literature.Practical implicationsThe results have high value to DMO managers, especially to those ones involved in developing tourism attractions.Originality/valueThis research advances over previous works: by identifying the nearest competitors of a destination; and by representing the competitive distance between the focal destination and its main competitors.

A Confirmatory Test of the Underlying Factor Structure of Scores on the Collective Self-Esteem Scale in Two Independent Samples of Black Americans

In this study, we examined the factor structure of the Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES; Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) across 2 separate samples of Black Americans. The CSES was administered to a sample of Black American adolescents (n = 538) and a community sample of Black American adults (n = 313). Results of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), however, did not support the original 4-factor model identified by Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) as providing an adequate fit to the data for these samples. Furthermore, an exploratory CFA procedure failed to find a CSES factor structure that could be replicated across the 2 samples of Black Americans. We present and discuss implications of the findings.