scholarly journals A Construct Revalidation of the Community of Inquiry Survey: Empirical Evidence for a General Factor Under a Bifactor Structure

Author(s):  
Hongwei Yang, Ph.D. ◽  
Jian Su, Ph.D.

The study revisited the community of inquiry (CoI) instrument for construct revalidation. To that end, the study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine four competing models (unidimensional, correlated-factor, second-order factor, and bifactor models) on model fit statistics computed using parameter estimates from a statistical estimator for ordinal categorical data. The CFA identified as the optimal structure the bifactor model where all items loaded on their intended domains and the existence of the general factor was supported, essentially evidence of construct validity for the instrument. The study further examined the bifactor model using mostly model-based reliability measures. The findings confirmed the contributions of the general factor to the reliability of instrument scores. The study concluded with validity and reliability evidence for the bifactor model, supported the model as a valid and reliable representation of the CoI instrument and a fuller representation of the CoI theoretical framework, and recommended its use in CoI-related research and practice in online education.

Author(s):  
Philip Hyland ◽  
Mark Shevlin ◽  
Gary Adamson ◽  
Daniel Boduszek

AbstractThis study provides the first assessment of the latent structure of the Profile of Emotional Distress (PED). The PED is a self-report measure of emotional distress (ED) associated strongly with its links to Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT). To date, the PED has been weakly conceptualized using both unitary and binary models of ED. In this study, the dimensionality of the PED was examined within an alternative models’ framework using confirmatory factor analysis and bifactor modelling techniques. A total of 313 law enforcement, military, and related emergency-service personnel completed the PED. Results indicated that a bifactor model conceptualization was the best fit of the data. The bifactor model included a single general factor (ED) and four grouping factors (Concern, Anxiety, Sadness, Depression). Model parameter estimates indicated that the ED factor accounts for the majority of covariance among the observable indicators. Low factor loadings were observed on each of the grouping factors, thus subscale construction is not recommended. Composite reliability results demonstrated that the ED factor possesses excellent internal reliability. The PED was found to be a reliable and valid measure of emotional distress.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. jep.059716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Walentynowicz ◽  
Michael Witthöft ◽  
Filip Raes ◽  
Ilse Van Diest ◽  
Omer Van den Bergh

Psychological accounts of symptom perception put forward that symptom experiences consist of sensory-perceptual and affective-motivational components. This division is also suggested by psychometric studies investigating the latent structure of symptom reporting. To corroborate the view that the general and symptom-specific factors of a bifactor model represent affective and sensory components, respectively, we performed bifactor models applying confirmatory factor analytic approaches to the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and the Checklist for Symptoms in Daily Life completed by 1053 undergraduate students. Additionally, we explored the association of latent factors with negative affectivity (NA). For both questionnaires, a bifactor model with one general and several symptom-specific factors revealed the best fit to the data. NA yielded large associations with the general factor, but smaller ones with somatic symptom-specific factors in both questionnaires. The observed latent structure supports a distinction between sensory-perceptual and affective-motivational components, and the association between the NA and the general factor confirms the affective tone of the latter.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Deniz Tekin Ersan ◽  
Seda Ata ◽  
Sinem Kaya

The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of ASK-R among Turkish pre-school children and determine the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of this scale. This study was conducted with 167 students from different pre-schools in Muğla. Within the aim of the study, three different methods were set down in order to investigate the validity of the scale. First of all, in order to get evidences about the construct validity of the scale, item analysis was conducted. In order to examine construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. The fit statistics obtained from factor analysis showed that original form’s factor structure had been confirmed. Internal consistency was calculated and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the total scale was high. The test-retest correlation coefficient for the total score were significant (r= .78, p<0.01). As a result of the study, the Turkish version of ASK-R has good validity and reliability for Turkish pre-school children.


Assessment ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe R. Smith ◽  
Stephen P. Becker ◽  
Annie A. Garner ◽  
Cort W. Rudolph ◽  
Stephen J. Molitor ◽  
...  

The primary goals of this study were to evaluate the dimensionality of the Penny et al. Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Scale and to compare model fits for parent- and youth self-report versions. Participants were 262 young adolescents (ages 10-15) comprehensively diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and bifactor modeling were used to determine if the proposed three-factor structure previously identified through exploratory factor analysis could be confirmed. Results showed that although the three-factor CFA had better fit statistics than a one- or two-factor CFA, the bifactor model was the best-fitting model for both parent report and self-report. This implies that Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Scale is best conceptualized as having an underlying general factor, with three specific factors that may represent different etiologies. Importantly, results also showed low-to-moderate correlations between raters and equivalent or better fit statistics for self-report in comparison with parent report.


Assessment ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ylenio Longo ◽  
Veljko Jovanović ◽  
Joana Sampaio de Carvalho ◽  
Dominika Karaś

The Mental Health Continuum–Short Form (MHC-SF) is a widely used scale aimed at assessing three components of well-being: emotional, social, and psychological. The factor structure of the MHC-SF has been under debate over the past 10 years. The main goal of the present study was to examine the dimensionality of the MHC-SF. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), bifactor CFA, exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), and bifactor ESEM were used to evaluate competing models of the MHC-SF structure. The total sample consisted of 7,521 participants from four countries: The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Serbia. The results indicated that the three CFA factors were very highly related, and that a bifactor ESEM model provided the best fit to the data in all samples. Our findings provided support for the bifactor structure of well-being with a strong general factor explaining most of the variance in the items.


Author(s):  
Esther Cuadrado ◽  
Rocío Rojas ◽  
Carmen Tabernero

The use of social networks has increased exponentially, especially among youth. These tools offer many advantages but also carry some risks such as addiction. This points to the need for a valid multifactorial instrument to measure social network addiction, focusing on the core components of addiction that can serve researchers and practitioners. This study set out to validate a reliable multidimensional social network addiction scale based on the six core components of addiction (SNAddS-6S) by using and adapting the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale. A total of 369 users of social networks completed a questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed, and different competing models were explored. The external validity of the scale was tested across its relations with different measures. Evidence for the validity and reliability of both the multidimensional SNAddS-6S and the unidimensional Short SNAddS-6S was provided. The SNAddS-6S was composed of 18 items and five different factors (time-management, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, and conflict), with the time-management factor as a higher-order factor integrated by salience and tolerance as sub-factors. The Short SNAddS-6S was composed of six items and a unifactorial structure. This scale could be of relevance for researchers and practitioners to assess the extent to which individuals suffer from social network addiction and to study the potential predictors and risks of such addiction.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annett Lotzin ◽  
Ronja Ketelsen ◽  
Sven Buth ◽  
Linda Krause ◽  
Ann-Kathrin Ozga ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: This study aimed to assess the factorial validity and reliability of the Pandemic Coping Scale, a new brief measure of coping behavior in response to the stressors of a pandemic. Methods: The scale was administered to N = 2,316 German participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. An exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis were applied among two random splits of the sample. The global goodness of fit (χ², RMSEA, SRMR, CFI, TLI), the local goodness of fit (factor loadings, communalities, factor reliability, discriminant validity), and test quality criteria (internal consistency, item discrimination, and difficulty) were evaluated for two models (Model 1: four-factor model; Model 2: four-factor model combined with a second-order general factor). Results: The exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor solution with factor loadings accounting for 44.6% of the total variance (Factor 1 ‘Healthy Lifestyle’, Factor 2 ‘Joyful Activities’, Factor 3 ‘Daily Structure’, Factor 4 ‘Prevention Adherence’). The confirmatory factor analysis showed a sufficient global fit for both specified models (Model 1: χ² (59, N =1172) = 366.97, p < .001, RMSEA = .067, SRMR = .043, CFI = .926, TLI = .902; Model 2: χ² (61, N = 1172) = 373.33, p < .001, RMSEA = .066, SRMR = .043, CFI = .925, TLI = .904). Model 1 and Model 2 did not significantly differ in their fit to the data (∆χ² (2, N = 1172) = 6.36, p = .042). Local goodness of fit indices were similar for both models and mostly showed moderate to large factor loadings, and good factor reliabilities except for ‘Prevention Adherence’. Conclusion: The Pandemic Coping Scale showed sufficient factorial validity for the four measured dimensions of coping and reliability for the scales except for ‘Prevention Adherence’ to assess coping during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘Prevention Adherence’ subscale might be improved by adding items with higher item difficulties.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (21) ◽  

Political socialization is a concept that includes the processes of learning the knowledge, values and attitudes of the new generations that contribute to the support of the political system and their inclusion in the political culture. In the process of political socialization, especially family, peers and mass media, play an essential role. In this study, a 10-item Political Socialization Scale (PSS) consisting of questions about the actors effective in political socialization, was developed. The sample of this study was composed of 393 students, 266 (67.7%) female and 127 (32.3%) male students. The age range of the participants varies in between 18-40 years old (M.age = 21.52, SD = 2.58). In the scope of validity tests, the scale was reduced to three factors through exploratory factor analysis. the three-factor structure was tested by confirmatory factor analysis and the resulting model demonstrated produced significant goodness of fit statistics Item-test correlations and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients are calculated for reliability studies. Furthermore, to test the criterion-related validity the Basic Personality Traits Inventory developed by Gençöz and Öncül (2012) was used. Findings obtained at the end of the analysis revealed that the Turkish version of the PSS is a valid and reliable tool that has been demonstrated empirically. Keywords Political socialization scale, validity, reliability


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annett Lotzin ◽  
Ronja Ketelsen ◽  
Irina Zrnic ◽  
Brigitte Lueger-Schuster ◽  
Maria Böttche ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: This study aimed to assess the factorial validity and reliability of the Pandemic Stressor Scale (PaSS), a new measure to assess the severity of distress for different stressors relevant during a pandemic or epidemic. Methods: The PaSS was administered in N = 2760 German participants. Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract factors. The factor structure obtained in the German sample was examined in N = 1021 Austrian participants using confirmatory factor analysis. χ², RMSEA, SRMR, CFI, TLI were assessed as global goodness of fit indices for two models (Model 1: nine-factor model; Model 2: nine-factor model combined with a second-order general factor). We additionally assessed factor loadings, communalities, factor reliability, discriminant validity as local fit indices. Internal consistency, item discrimination, and item difficulty were assessed as additional test quality criteria.Results: The results of the exploratory factor analysis suggested a nine-factor solution with factor loadings accounting for 50.4% of the total variance (Factor 1 ‘Problems with Childcare’, Factor 2 ‘Work-related Problems’, Factor 3 ‘Restricted Face-to-Face Contact’, Factor 4 ‘Burden of Infection ‘, Factor 5 ‘Crisis Management and Communication’, Factor 6 ‘Difficult Housing Condition’, Factor 7 ‘Fear of Infection’, Factor 8 ‘Restricted Access to Resources’, Factor 9 ‘Restricted Activity’). The confirmatory factor analysis showed a sufficient global fit for both tested models (Model 1: χ² (369, N =1021) = 1443.28, p < .001, RMSEA = .053, SRMR = .055, CFI = .919, TLI = .904; Model 2: χ² (396, N = 1021) = 1948.51, p < .001, RMSEA = .062, SRMR = .074, CFI = .883, TLI = .871). The results of the chi-square difference test indicated a significantly better model-fit of Model 1 compared to Model 2 (∆χ² (27, N = 1021) = 505.23, p < .001). Local goodness of fit indices were comparable for both tested models. We found good factor reliabilities for all factors and moderate to large factor loadings of the items as indicators. In Model 2, four first-order factors showed small factor loadings on the second-order general factor. Conclusion: The Pandemic Stressor Scale showed sufficient factorial validity for the nine measured domains of stressors during the current COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 427-431
Author(s):  
Aurelie M. C. Lange ◽  
Marc J. M. H. Delsing ◽  
Ron H. J. Scholte ◽  
Rachel E. A. van der Rijken

Abstract. The Therapist Adherence Measure (TAM-R) is a central assessment within the quality-assurance system of Multisystemic Therapy (MST). Studies into the validity and reliability of the TAM in the US have found varying numbers of latent factors. The current study aimed to reexamine its factor structure using two independent samples of families participating in MST in the Netherlands. The factor structure was explored using an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) in Sample 1 ( N = 580). This resulted in a two-factor solution. The factors were labeled “therapist adherence” and “client–therapist alliance.” Four cross-loading items were dropped. Reliability of the resulting factors was good. This two-factor model showed good model fit in a subsequent Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in Sample 2 ( N = 723). The current finding of an alliance component corroborates previous studies and fits with the focus of the MST treatment model on creating engagement.


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