The Psychometric Properties of the Relaxation/Meditation/Mindfulness (RMM) Tracker t Inventory in an Iranian Population

Background. A growing body of research has examined the psychometric properties of popular mindfulness inventories for different population. The present study is aimed at exploring the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Relaxation/Meditation/Mindfulness (RMM) Tracker t Inventory in Iran. Method. This was a cross-sectional and methodological study that conducted in Kerman, southeast Iran. Fifty, 300, and 163 Iranian adult participants were participated in the pilot, exploratory, and confirmatory phase, respectively. Face, content, and structural validities, Cronbach’s alpha, and Omega coefficient were used to validate the Persian scale. Results. The results showed that the “Persian version of RMM t” had acceptable content and face validities. The Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) with Promax Rotation showed that the P-RMM t has 3 scales of “Mindful Love, Thankfulness, and Transcendence,” “Relaxation,” and “Mindful Deepening” which further confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency of all three scales was acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients > 80 ). Conclusion. The Persian version of RMM Tracker t seems to be a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess the levels of mindfulness in the Iranian general population.

Helping Relationships From Significant Others Scale: Chinese Version

Using the helping relationships from significant others (HRSO) scale assists patients, such as those with chronic kidney disease (CKD), in adopting a healthy lifestyle to decelerate disease progression, complications, and mortality. To study the efficacy of the scale, we recruited a convenience sample ( n = 250) of patients with CKD from a nephrology clinic in southern Taiwan. Principal axis factor analysis and a promax rotation revealed a 15-item, three-factor explanation of 68.44 % of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit. The Composite reliability was .91, .89, and .92 in the same factors. Cronbach’s alpha was .90 for the 15-item scale, with the 3 subscales ranging from .86 to .91. The split reliability was .73. The HRSO is a valid and reliable scale to measure significant others’ support of patients with CKD in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Algorithmic jingle jungle: A comparison of implementations of principal axis factoring and promax rotation in R and SPSS

A statistical procedure is assumed to produce comparable results across programs. Using the case of an exploratory factor analysis procedure—principal axis factoring (PAF) and promax rotation—we show that this assumption is not always justified. Procedures with equal names are sometimes implemented differently across programs: a jingle fallacy. Focusing on two popular statistical analysis programs, we indeed discovered a jingle jungle for the above procedure: Both PAF and promax rotation are implemented differently in the psych R package and in SPSS. Based on analyses with 247 real and 216,000 simulated data sets implementing 108 different data structures, we show that these differences in implementations can result in fairly different factor solutions for a variety of different data structures. Differences in the solutions for real data sets ranged from negligible to very large, with 42% displaying at least one different indicator-to-factor correspondence. A simulation study revealed systematic differences in accuracies between different implementations, and large variation between data structures, with small numbers of indicators per factor, high factor intercorrelations, and weak factors resulting in the lowest accuracies. Moreover, although there was no single combination of settings that was superior for all data structures, we identified implementations of PAF and promax that maximize performance on average. We recommend researchers to use these implementations as best way through the jungle, discuss model averaging as a potential alternative, and highlight the importance of adhering to best practices of scale construction.

An instrument for measuring the influence of consumers' cultural values on functional food perception

PurposeThe purpose of the article is to develop an instrument for measuring the influence of consumers' cultural values on functional food perception.Design/methodology/approachThe study is quantitative in nature and builds on an earlier qualitative study that employed in-depth interviews, thematic analysis and constant comparative analysis to construct a survey instrument which initially had 53 items. The quantitative study involved an online survey that was conducted using this instrument, which resulted in 365 complete cases that included 173 Anglo-Australian, 102 Chinese and 90 Indian respondents living in Australia. The survey data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis using Principal axis factoring, with Promax rotation.FindingsThe research has validated that functional food perception is dependent upon consumers' cultural values. The results of the exploratory factor analysis provided a six-factor instrument with 32 items.Research limitations/implicationsOnly three ethnic groups were involved in this study and that is not entirely representative of Australia or other countries. The instrument, however, will allow researchers in the field of functional food to extend the research to other diverse communities.Practical implicationsThe instrument will further enable functional food producers and marketers to develop effective marketing strategies based on their knowledge of the influence of cultural values on functional food perception.Originality/valueThe instrument developed from this study, for measuring consumers' functional food perception based on cultural values, is the first of its kind.

Validity and reliability of a rubric to assess didactic lesson planning of preservice teachers

It is presented the results of a study whose purpose was to reliability and validity of building an analytic socioformative process rubric to evaluate didactic planning in Teachers during their training process for Basic Education. The study involved 226 teachers. At first, reliability was determined through the Alpha Coefficient by Cronbach, having as a result .703. Results show that the instrument is reliable. Afterwards, an exploratory factorial analysis (AFE in Spanish), was carried out through the Maximum Authenticity Method with promax rotation and cluster analysis. This analysis showed the existence of a factor that explains 53.046% of the variance and is consistent with didactic planning. There was no need to eliminate any item according to the results of the factorial analysis. From these studies on, it can be conclusive that the target rubric of study has the adequate levels of reliability and construct validity. It is necessary to carry on new studies to confirm the results.

Testdiagnostik von AVWS im Grundschulalter – eine faktorenanalytische Untersuchung

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Unsere eklektische Testbatterie zur Diagnose von auditiven Verarbeitungs- und Wahrnehmungsstörungen (AVWS) wurde in mehreren Vorstudien eingesetzt. Nun sollte ihre Inhaltsstruktur faktorenanalytisch untersucht werden. Material und Methode Testergebnisse von 143 Kindern mit AVWS (96 Jungen) im mittleren Alter von 8,3 (SD 1,1) Jahren gingen in mehrere exploratorische Faktorenanalysen ein (EFA; Hauptkomponentenmethode). Unter Berücksichtigung der Ergebnisse diskriminanzanalytischer Vorstudien und der zugrunde liegenden Interkorrelationen wurde eine EFA mit 12 (von insgesamt 16) diagnostischen Tests gewählt. Ergebnisse Das Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin-Maß der Stichprobeneignung war mit 0,739 mittelmäßig bis tendenziell gut. Die Bestimmung der Faktorenzahl erfolgte anhand des Kaiser-Kriteriums (Eigenwert > 1) und sprach für 4 Faktoren, die 63,7 % Gesamtvarianz erklärten – bestätigt durch den Scree-Test. Laut Komponentenmatrix waren die Ladungen auf den unrotierten Faktoren vorwiegend auf dem ersten Faktor hoch, weswegen sich diese EFA nicht interpretieren ließ. Nach Promax-Rotation resultierte eine interpretierbare Faktorenlösung mit folgenden 4 Faktoren: phonematische Verarbeitung, verbal-auditives Kurzzeitgedächtnis, basaler Hörverarbeitungsfaktor, Hörverarbeitungsfaktor von redundanzreduzierter Sprache. Fazit Mit diesen Ergebnissen liegt ein vorläufiges Modell zentral-auditiver Prozesse unserer AVWS-Testbatterie sowie ein erster Beitrag zur Konstruktvalidität vor.

Algorithmic Jingle Jungle: A Comparison of Implementations of Principal Axis Factoring and Promax Rotation in R and SPSS

A statistical procedure is assumed to produce comparable results across programs. Using the case of an exploratory factor analysis procedure—principal axis factoring (PAF) and promax rotation—we show that this assumption is not always justified. Procedures with equal names are sometimes implemented differently across programs: a jingle fallacy. Focusing on two popular statistical analysis programs, we indeed discovered a jingle jungle for the above procedure: Both PAF and promax rotation are implemented differently in the psych R package and in SPSS. Based on analyses with 230 real and 216,000 simulated data sets implementing 108 different data structures, we show that these differences in implementations can result in fairly different factor solutions for a variety of different data structures. Differences in the solutions for real data sets ranged from negligible to very large, with 38% displaying at least one different indicator-to-factor correspondence. A simulation study revealed systematic differences in accuracies between different implementations, and large variation between data structures, with small numbers of indicators per factor, high factor intercorrelations, and weak factors resulting in the lowest accuracies. Moreover, although there was no single combination of settings that was superior for all data structures, we identified implementations of PAF and promax that maximize performance on average. We recommend researchers to use these implementations as best way through the jungle, discuss model averaging as a potential alternative, and highlight the importance of adhering to best practices of scale construction.

The Comparison Between Norotate and Promax Rotations of Biplot Simulation in The Management of Bali Cattle’s Breeding Farms on Integrated Farming System

This study aims to determine the comparison between Norotate Rotation and Promax Rotation (90) of Biplot Simulation in the management of Bali Cattle Breeding Farms on Integrated Farming System (Simantri). It used to determine the difference of coordinates between the variables and also obtain the information about the difference in the proximity of the coordinates between livestock groups.The study conducted on Simantri who had livestock groups in Badung Regency, Bali in which the data collected were analyzed by factor analysis with Norotate Rotation and Promax Rotation (90). The variable of this study was a livestock management which included management of cows, calves, feed, cowshed, environmental,and the objects of the study were thelivestock groups. The Biplot simulation used to determine the coordinates of the livestock groups determined based on the Factor Scores Method Regression Analysis. The results with different rotations caused differences in the magnitude of the arrow angles and directions between management of cows, calves, feeds, cowshed and environmental which also followed by differences in the coordinate systems of the livestock groups. The angle between management of cows, calves, feeds, cowshed, and environmental do not show the magnitude of the correlation between them. It can be stated that the coordinates of Livestock groups on Promax Rotation (90) are more specific than Norotate Rotation, therefore it is easier to distinguish the different scores between the variables on the Livestock groups.

Psychometric Properties of the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) Questionnaire in Medical Students

Background and Objectives: Studies on the effects of studying on a medical student’s quality of life are sparse. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire is a widely used scale that enables the assessment and international comparisons of the quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire among Serbian medical students. Material and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that involved 760 medical students at a state medical faculty at the University of Kragujevac, Serbia. The reliability of the WHOQOL-BREF was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and test–retest analysis, and the validity was examined using principal component analysis, with Promax rotation method. Results: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the whole WHOQOL-BREF scale was 0.896. Internal reliability for all domains was above 0.70, except for the domain “Social Relationships” (0.533). The test–retest reliability for all domains was significant at p < 0.01 level, showing good stability of the scale. Principal component analysis with Promax rotation method indicated four main components that explained 49.5% of variance. Conclusion: The Serbian version of the WHOQOL-BREF scale showed satisfactory psychometric properties that facilitate estimation of the quality of life of medical students.

INCREASING THE POWER OF INTERGENERATIONAL NETWORKS: ADVANCING A NEW EVALUATION TOOL

According to a 2018 national survey of intergenerational (IG) care providers, practitioners identified as their number one concern a need for evidence-informed evaluation tools to demonstrate their impact on older and younger participants. The Best Practices Checklist is a 14-item (yes/no) measure grounded in evidence of effective intergenerational strategies. Trained evaluators complete the checklist based on their observations of facilitators’ behaviors during IG activities. Exploratory factor analysis (promax rotation) of the Checklist for 132 IG activities offers insight to factor structure and item construction. An adequate two-factor structure was achieved; seven Checklist items were retained with factor loadings greater than .39. Seven items were deleted due to non-variance, high missing data, or double loading across factors. Factors reflect dimensions of: (a) person-centered strategies (e.g. selecting activities based on participants’ interests) and (b) creating a positive physical environment (e.g., grouping participants into intergenerational pairs or small groups). Findings indicate that a Best Practices Checklist with fewer items may offer a suitable tool for assessing the utilization of Best Practices during IG activities. Given the demand for IG evaluation tools, the 7-item BP Checklist can be a brief, easy-to-use measure that documents IG facilitators’ implementation of evidence-informed practices. Its use could be especially helpful if connected to varied indicators of program effectiveness and participant outcomes.