Factor Analytic Procedures Research Articles

Resiliency Scales – tool adaptation and a preliminary analysis of psychometric properties

The presented study aimed to adapt the Resiliency Scales – A Profile of Personal Strengths in a group of 357 students (178 adolescents with mild intellectual disability and 179 students within intellectual norm) and to conduct a preliminary analysis of its psychometric properties. In accordance with the theoretical background of the completed analyses – resilience theory – the respondents taking part in the study have experienced various challenges during their life. The Resiliency Scales – A Profile of Personal Strengths intends to measure such personality traits of an individual that enable them to better overcome difficulties and adversity (Prince-Embury, 2006). The first stage of the psychometric verification was to study descriptive statistics and distribution. The next stage was reliability analysis and confirmation procedure for factor analysis. The last phase of the adaptation was to standardize the results and prepare norms. As a result of the performed analyses, it can be concluded that Resiliency Scales – A Profile of Personal Strengths is characterized by satisfactory psychometric properties.

The meaning of Black history: Development and validation of the Scale of Black History Consciousness.

This article describes the development and validation for a measure designed to assess the importance and meaning of Black history-the Scale of Black History Consciousness (SBHC)-in two independently recruited samples of African descent adults. After iterative exploratory (n = 350) and confirmatory (n = 366) factor analytic procedures, a 12-item measure, with scores of two internally consistent factors (sociopolitical beliefs and empowerment beliefs), emerged as the most parsimonious and psychometrically sound. An assessment of scalar measurement invariance using multiple indicators multiple causes modeling indicated that SBHC factors did not differ across racial-ethnic identification or generational status. Validity evidence was established through an examination of bivariate correlations of the SBHC factors with race centrality and impression management. Additionally, participants who endorsed being in environments where learning about Black history was emphasized reported higher SBHC scores than their counterparts who were not exposed to these environments demonstrating known-groups validity. These results provide initial support for the validity and reliability of the SBHC. Findings from this study advance scholarship about the psychological importance of Black history, and the SBHC can contribute to investigations of African descent adults' beliefs about the value of Black history in their lives. Recommendations for further scale development research and practice applications of the SBHC are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Students' Self-Regulated Learning in Physics: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

This study aims to develop and validate an instrument that measures students' self-regulated learning in Physics. The pilot study involved 400 randomly selected Form 4 students taking Physics. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted to assess the suitability of the measurement items and to identify the construct dimensions. Three main components were identified through the EFA procedure, namely self-motivation (DP), metacognitive planning (PM), and metacognitive monitoring (PK). The field study involved 435 Form 4 students taking Physics from daily secondary schools. The study population consisted of Form 4 students from daily secondary schools across Peninsular Malaysia. The sample was selected using stratified random sampling and simple random sampling from four states: Perak, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, and Kelantan. Data from the field study were used to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) procedure. CFA results indicated that the developed instrument is valid and reliable for measuring students' self-regulated learning. Once the measurement model was confirmed through CFA, the researchers structured these constructs into a structural model and estimated the necessary parameters using the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) procedure. This study makes a significant contribution by producing a valid and reliable instrument for measuring self-regulated learning among Form 4 Physics students. This instrument can be used in future research to enhance the understanding of factors influencing students' self-regulated learning in the context of Physics education.

Measuring Satisfaction with Life-construct among University Students during Covid-19 Pandemic in Sabah, Malaysia

This research intended to develop a valid and reliable instrument of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) to measure satisfaction with life (SWL) constructs among 108 university students in Sabah, Malaysia, through the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) procedure. Using the extraction method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax Rotation, a component of the SWL construct is extracted with an eigenvalue of 3.1. The variance explained for this component is 62%. The construct of SWL has Cronbach's alpha value of .817. The development scale and validation confirmed that the instrument is consistent and stable with university student samples.

Examining the mediating and moderating roles of social marketing behavioural enhancers regarding consistent condom use.

Since their importance was highlighted by Ayikwa and De Jager, social marketing behavioural enhancers (SMBEs) have been investigated in terms of their causal and correlational relationships with the intention to use condoms (IUC) and consistent condom use (CCU), as people often fail to act on their intentions. However, scrutiny of their mediating and moderating roles could provide insights pertinent to the design of effective HIV and AIDS preventative programmes. This study examined whether perceived behavioural control (PBC) and IUC interact with exposure to HIV and AIDS information (EI), ease of access to condoms (EAC) and level of related knowledge (KN) in determining CCU. It also investigated whether PBC and IUC predict CCU through increasing EI, EAC, and KN. A quantitative approach was adopted and data were collected from 607 participants, aged at least 18, living in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The questionnaire administered included pre-existing items, validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures. Regression analyses of the data for mediation and moderation testing were performed using PROCESS macro software for SPSS. The results indicated that none of the SMBEs mediated the non-significant PBC-CCU relationship: B = -0.0258, SE = 0.0199, p = 0.195. Nor did they mediate the significant IUC-CCU relationship: B = 0.0395, SE = 0.0195, p = 0.043. Similarly, none of the SMBEs were found to moderate the PBC-CCU relationship (EI*PBC: B = 0.0034, SE = 0.0056, p = 0.540; KN*PBC: B = -0.0006, SE = 0.0064, p = 0.931; EAC*PBC: B = 0.0011, SE = 0.0059, p = 0.854) as IUC-CCU relationship (EI*IUC: B = 0.0036, SE = 0.0054, p = 0.513; KN*IUC: B = -0.0096, SE = 0.0060, p = 0.111; EAC*IUC: B = 0.0044, SE = 0.0061, p = 0.469). A recommendation is made to scrutinise the mediating and moderating roles of SMBEs in the context of health behavioural models other than the theory of planned behaviour, which was considered in this study.

Establishing sustainable school-community partnerships: strategies for school management teams

ABSTRACT School-community partnerships (SCPs) in under-resourced contexts provide invaluable support and resources for meeting the needs of staff and learners beyond the perimeters of a school. This article explored the strategies which school management teams (SMTs) employ, in establishing sustainable SCPs in township secondary schools in the Johannesburg Central (JC) District of Gauteng, South Africa. The study followed a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods design, to investigate the partnerships between 16 secondary schools and their respective community partners (CPs). However, for this article, the study reports only on the quantitative results. Two complementary, standardized questionnaires – one for SMTs and the other for CPs were used to collect data, which were subsequently analyzed using descriptive, factor, and reliability statistical analysis procedures. I employed sustainable SCPs, using the collective impact model as the theoretical framework. The study produced favorable findings regarding strategies for establishing sustainable partnerships between the school and community partners, including two-way conversations; negotiated partnerships; a common purpose; funding; a reflection on the quality of the partnership; accountability; monitoring and evaluation; trust and respect; commitment to implementing the partnership and collaborating to find solutions. To conclude, I highlight the implications of the findings for educational practitioners and make recommendations for future research.

Psychological readiness for injury recovery: evaluating psychometric properties of the IPRRS and assessing group differences in injured physically active individuals

ObjectivesThe primary purpose of the study was to assess the one-factor and two-factor structure of the Injury Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport Scale (IPRRS) in an injured physically active...

Assessing teachers' social and emotional competence : the validation of SECTRS in Italy, Latvia, and Portugal

Despite growing interest in evaluating the social and emotional learning of students and the development of standardized assessment tools for this purpose, there remains a dearth of validated instruments for evaluating teachers’ social and emotional skills. We set out to address this knowledge gap by investigating the psychometric characteristics of the Social-Emotional Competence Teacher Rating Scale (SECTRS) questionnaire, an instrument originally developed and validated in North America. Participants were 572 teachers from Italy (n=324), Latvia (n=139), and Portugal (n=109) ranging from 40 to 59 years of age. We performed confirmatory factor analysis procedures to validate a four-factor model measuring Teacher-student relationships, Emotion regulation, Social awareness, and Interpersonal relationships. The data supported this factorial structure, with a total of 14 items included in the final model. The outcomes of a multi-group comparison indicated that the model exhibited partial invariance, up to and including metric invariance, across the three cultural settings. We discuss these findings in relation to selecting appropriate instruments for assessing the social and emotional skills of teachers in different cultural contexts.

Factors Influencing Job Performance among Academic Staff in Malaysian Public University

Extensive research has been conducted on the factors that determine job performance. The current study was required by a lack of research relating to the factors of job performance among academic staff in Malaysian public universities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of personality traits, motivation, leadership style, and learner autonomy on job performance. Data was collected from the academic staff of a public university in Malaysia. The probability technique, which is simple random sampling was used in this study. The study is guided by an adapted ten-point Likert Interval Scale structured questionnaire as the main instrument used in collecting the data. Furthermore, the analysis of data was undertaken by using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) procedures. Structural equation modeling (SEM), a multivariate approach, was used to empirically evaluate and estimate the hypothesized link between constructs using Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) software version 20.0. The findings indicate that job performance is significantly and positively related to personality traits, motivation, leadership style, and learner autonomy. Motivation is a significant predictor of job performance when compared to other variables. The study proves that the combination of personality traits, motivation, learner autonomy, and leadership style on job performance may contribute to the optimal service delivery to stakeholders within Malaysia's educational system. Therefore, the implications of the findings, potential limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed

Incivility, Mobbing, and Abusive Supervision: A Tripartite Scale Development Study

Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, in three consecutive studies with employed samples, we developed measures of workplace incivility, mobbing, and abusive supervision sensitive to the nuances of a non-Western context (i.e., Türkiye). In Study 1, we first conducted 15 focus groups (N = 149), identified culture-specific and universal themes underlying the focal mistreatment types, and developed the initial scales. We then pilot-tested (N = 427) and refined the scales using exploratory factor analytic procedures. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses (N range = 456-524) and associations between the new scales and their widely used counterparts (N = 353) yielded evidence for the construct validity of the scales. Study 2 also involved the development of short forms of relatively long incivility and abusive supervision scales. In Study 3 (N = 482), we first examined the extent to which the three scales were operationally distinct. Second, we examined the scales’ ability to predict burnout and organizational commitment. Results supported operational distinctiveness as well as the criterion-related validity of the scales. A dominance analysis revealed that the three scales had equivalent contributions in explaining the two outcome variables, further justifying their distinctiveness. We argue that the use of present scales is not necessarily restricted to the Turkish context and may prove useful more broadly in other neo-traditional contexts.

The Influence of Social Capital and Farmers’ Specific Factors on the Poverty of Rural Farm Households in Akwa Ibom, State, Nigeria

This study analyzed the effect of social capital and other relevant factors on poverty of farm households and identified constraints militating against effective social capital formation among poor rural farm households belonging to associations in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was utilized to choose 180 rural farm households within the research location. The FGT methodology was used to generate indices of poverty. Descriptive statistics, Tobit model and factor analytical procedures were employed to analyze the objectives of the study. The estimated model showed high degree of fitness, thus justifying the estimation method used. The results revealed that, the following social capitals: farm size acquired from the association, income derived from membership of association, number of visits of extension agents, interest amount paid on loan acquired from association, fertilizer, seeds, pesticides and farm land acquired from the association have a significant negative relationship with the poverty of rural farm households in the study area. By implication, increase in the stock of these social capitals by poor farm households would significantly enhance the reduction of poverty depth among them. Moreover, other factors which affected farm household poverty status were sex of household heads, age, household size, years of formal education, farm income and ownership of assets. The results also found 8 categories of constraints militating against effective social capital formation among poor rural farm households. The constraints categories are: leadership, management style and low income; financial constraint and unconcerned attitude of members towards group activities; executive characters; ineffective coordination and unfair distribution of benefits to members; lack of seriousness of members; poverty; illiteracy and incompetence as well as defaults and partiality. From the result, it is concluded that social capital accumulations reduce the probability of being poor. Based on the high percentage of poverty prevalence in the State, it is concluded that poverty is endemic in the rural areas of Akwa Ibom State and specifically among farm households. This study lends support to recent emphasis on investing in social capital as a major means of poverty reduction in the rural areas.

Exploring Items for Measuring the Sales and Service Tax (SST) Compliance Constructs using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Procedure

Exploring Items for Measuring the Sales and Service Tax (SST) Compliance Constructs using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Procedure

Evaluating Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha and Testing Its Identity to Scale Reliability: A Direct Bayesian Confirmatory Factor Analysis Procedure

ABSTRACT A Bayesian statistics-based approach is discussed that can be used for direct evaluation of the popular Cronbach’s coefficient alpha as an internal consistency index for multiple-component measuring instruments, as well as for testing its identity to scale reliability. The method represents an application of confirmatory factor analysis within the Bayesian inference framework and is widely applicable in empirical measurement research using popular latent variable modeling software. The procedure readily furnishes posterior median point estimates and credible intervals of coefficient alpha. The approach also permits testing a necessary and sufficient condition for population equality of the alpha and scale reliability coefficients, and under its plausibility provides in addition a dependable means for estimation of instrument reliability. The outlined procedure is illustrated using numerical data.

Teachers' digital competences: a scale construction and validation study.

Improving teachers' digital competences is sine qua non for effective teaching and learning in today's digital society. However, there is a limited number of comprehensive and reliable scales to measure teachers' digital competences. Regarding this, the present study aimed to develop and validate a comprehensive scale to assess teachers' digital competences. Building on previous studies, a draft scale developed and piloted with a sample of teachers from all educational levels. The procedures of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) were followed to refine the scale, resulting in a five-point Likert scale with 36 items loaded onto four factors. The final scale was called as Teachers' Digital Competences Scale (TDC-S). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to validate the four-factor structure. Reliability analysis was performed using Cronbach's alpha (α), McDonald's omega (ω), and Composite Reliability (CR), indicating high psychometric properties. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses were also performed to assess the validity of the latent structures in TDC-S. The findings suggest that the TDC-S is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing teachers' digital competences at all grade levels from primary to high schools. It can be used to inform teacher training and development programs, and to identify teacher candidates who need additional assistance regarding improving their digital competences.

PEOPLE’S REASONS NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY GARDENS IN DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOODS OF ROANOKE, VIRGINIA

Although community gardening provides numerous environmental, economic, health, and social benefits, public involvement and support are still not at the desired level for their permanency in cities. While there are numerous studies regarding people’s motivations to participate in community gardening, empirical research is very limited for people’s reasons not to participate in community gardening. For increased involvement and public support, knowledge about people’s reasons not to participate in community gardening is important. Using a survey instrument, this research identified people’s primary reasons that negatively influence their participation in community gardening in five disadvantaged neighborhoods of Roanoke, Virginia. Descriptive statistics, T-test, and factor analysis procedures were used at a 95% significance level. Results showed that the statements associated with “theft and damage”, “difficult access”, “too much effort”, and “no personal interest” were the main reasons not to participate in community gardening. Based on these, this research brings design and maintenance recommendations for the increase of more successful community garden projects. In the long term, this can contribute to the long-term survival of these landscapes in cities by providing higher public involvement and support for community garden projects.

Assessing conceptual comparability of single-item survey instruments with a mixed-methods approach

An increasing number of research projects and infrastructure services involve pooling data across different survey programs. Creating a homogenous integrated dataset from heterogeneous source data is the domain of ex-post harmonization. The harmonization process involves various considerations. However, chief among them is whether two survey measurement instruments have captured the same concept. This issue of conceptual comparability is a fundamental precondition for pooling different source variables to form a harmonized target variable. Our paper explores this issue with a mixed-methods approach. On the one hand, we use psychometric latent variable modeling by presenting several single-item wordings for social trust to respondents and then performing factor analytic procedures. On the other hand, we complement and contrast these quantitative findings with qualitative findings gained with an open-ended web probe. The combined approach gave valuable insights into the conceptual comparability of the eleven social-trust-related single-item wordings. For example, we find that negative, distrust-related wordings and positive, trust-related wordings should not be pooled into an integrated variable. However, the paper will also illustrate and discuss why it is easier to disprove conceptual comparability than fully prove it.

Determining basic characteristics of bulk carriers at the early stages of design

This paper considers the task to determine the basic characteristics of bulker vessels. Available studies that define the main characteristics of ships were analyzed. The complexity of the task to choose a prototype in the process of determining the basic characteristics of bulk carriers at the initial stages of design has been shown. The accepted assumption implied that each ship in the sample (a ship database) was designed in such a way that some operational qualities and/or economic characteristics of a vessel are optimal in a certain sense. To solve the task, stochastic factor analysis was used, and the method of principal components was applied, which makes it possible to identify numerical characteristics that affect the parameters of the entire system but are not clearly observed. The factors were compiled that are dimensionless sets of characteristics of sample vessels, which are, in fact, new phase orthogonal coordinates of the problem with unequal variances of the sample along the coordinate directions. Evaluating the significance of correlations of factors and vectors of the sample data makes it possible to discard factors that have a weak influence on the values of the parameters of the sample vessels. Thus, the model of the problem is simplified while preserving essential connections. The analysis of the calculation data revealed that the number of significant factors due to the use of the principal component method decreased from 7 to 3. It was determined that the ships of the same designers are indeed grouped by the value of the factor sets. In the absence of an original algorithm for determining the main characteristics of the vessel at the initial stage of design, the application of the described factor analysis procedure should help with the definition of the main factors that affect the quality of the design. Further, it is possible to apply more subtle mechanisms for project optimization according to selected economic and technical parameters. The data of the numerical calculation of integrated characteristics of the ship are given

Helicopter Parenting of Minor Teenagers in India: Scale Development and Consequences

In this study, we develop a new scale for measuring helicopter parenting of teenagers in India using a sample of 425 teenage students (aged 13–17 years) in the New Delhi education system. The Minor Teen Helicopter Parenting Scale consists of two validated factors of helicopter parenting we label: Pressure and Intrusion. Both factors demonstrated high validity through factor analysis procedures and high levels of reliability (0.804 and 0.709, respectively). Both pressure and intrusion were associated with academic performance and well-being outcomes. Both factors were an improvement over the Helicopter Parenting Scale (HPS) for this age group. Analysis of the HPS did not yield an acceptable reliability (0.422) for these teenagers under the age of 18. Pressure was more related academic performance and school-related outcomes. Intrusion was more associated with general well-being, self-reported health, and happiness. Results suggest the new measure with two subscales is a more age-appropriate tool for assessing helicopter parenting in parents of children not yet in the college or university life stage. Implications for these findings are discussed and future research is considered.

Preliminary validity testing of the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ): a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in Norwegian hospitalized patients

AimsTo perform the first psychometric analysis of the Norwegian version of the eHLQ using confirmative factor analysis (CFA) procedures in a population of patients admitted to hospital using a cross-sectional design. The eHLQ consists of 35 items capturing the 7-dimensional eHealth Literacy Framework (eHLF) which describes users' attributes, user's interaction with technologies and user's experience with digital health systems.MethodsThe 7 independent scales of the eHLQ was translated from Danish and culturally adapted into the Norwegian language following a standardised protocol. Assessment of construct validity of the eHLQ was undertaken using data from a cross-sectional survey of 260 patients hospitalized at a Norwegian University Hospital in the Oslo area during a two-week period in June 2021. The analysis included using correlation analysis (Pearsons R), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).ResultsAll factor loadings were high to acceptable (i.e. > 0.6), except for five items which had somewhat lower loadings. Regarding internal consistency, alpha ranged from 0.73 to 0.90. For optimal CFA fit for the different scale models, correlated residuals were required for five of the seven scales. Overall our analysis shows an intermediate fit of the orginal construct. Scale intercorrelations were all below 0.8, indicating an overall acceptable discriminant validity between the 7 dimensions.ConclusionsThe results from the CFA analysis indicate that for almost all 7 eHLQ scales, an acceptable model fit was achieved. The 260 hospitalized patients included in this study represented a variety of diagnoses, recruited from a geographically limited area. Further studies on psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of eHLQ in larger samples, diverse settings and by using more comprehensive approaches are warranted.

Evaluation of Psychometric Characteristics of A Logical Reasoning Tool With The Classic Test Theory Approach

Research on logical reasoning began to be carried out in Indonesia, it is necessary to conduct an evaluation of the psychometric characteristics possessed by logical reasoning measurement tools made by researchers. Logical reasoning measurement tools made by researchers need to be re-evaluated considering there are weaknesses in terms of using a relatively small number of subjects, so that it can affect the standardization of logical reasoning measuring devices. This study aims to obtain an overview of item difficulty index, item discrimination index, effectiveness of the distractors, validity, reliability, and error measurement from the logical reasoning measurement tool. Respondents in this study amounted to 7.730 students, consisting of 3.897 men and 3.833 women with an age range of 15-19 years. The research data were analyzed with the help of Microsoft Excel 2007, SPSS version 22.00, and ITEMAN version 3.6. The results of this study indicate that the item difficulty index moves from 0.35 to 0.80 which belongs to the easy and medium category. This study also shows that the item discrimination index moves from 0.10 to 0.71 with four items rejected and need to be aborted. This study also shows that the effectiveness of the distractors contained in each item in the logical reasoning measure is in the effective category. This study also shows that each item in the logical reasoning measure is considered valid in terms of factorial validity through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) procedures. This study also shows that the measurement of logical reasoning is relatively reliable with a Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.906. This study also shows that the measurement error obtained in this study is ± 3.92 of the total score obtained using a logical reasoning measure with a confidence level of 95%, with the actual score estimate obtained by respondents moving from 12.08 to 19.92, if the scores obtained by respondents sixteen.