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A crosscultural validation of a test of science related attitudes
Author(s) -
Khalili Khalil Y.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660240205
Subject(s) - varimax rotation , test (biology) , psychology , test validity , optimal distinctiveness theory , mathematics education , discriminant validity , achievement test , science education , scale (ratio) , psychometrics , social psychology , developmental psychology , standardized test , cronbach's alpha , geography , internal consistency , cartography , paleontology , biology
A test for measuring science attitudes, named Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA), was initially developed in Australia by Fraser (1977, 1978). This study investigated the crosscultural validity of this instrument when used with American high school students. Three hundred and thirty‐six students (12th and 11th graders) in three high schools in suburban Chicago took the test. The results of the study, confirming previous validation of the test, revealed that the seven subscales of TOSRA were, in general, highly reliable. The discriminant validity of each of these scales, however, was found to be generally low. The item/scale correlation for all but four items of the test met Shrigley's ( Journal of Research in Science Teaching , 20 (1), 87–89, 1983) criterion of being more than 0.30. The results of the principal components with varimax rotation did not support the distinctiveness of the subscale structure of the test.