Construction and validation of student questionnaire measuring attitudes to self, school and teacher

• Main Author: Brokenshire, Enid Gwendoline Earle
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1977
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7399/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7399/1/Brokenshire_EnidGwendolineEarle.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7399/3/Brokenshire_EnidGwendolineEarle.pdf

The purpose of this study was to construct a questionnaire to measure the attitudes of the child, age 8 to 12 years, to self, school and teacher and to investigate the reliability and validity of the devised instrument. -- The theoretical constructs of the questionnaire were based on self-concept, attitude and self-report theory. The items were devised from a review of self-concept instruments and studies and from consultations with parents, graduate students and educational psychologists. From a pool of 500 items, 80 were chosen with the concurrence of 11 people in the educational psychology field. These items formed the initial questionnaire. -- This questionnaire was administered to a sample of 211 students from Grades IV to VII, inclusive, in two selected Newfoundland schools. It was re-administered three weeks later. -- Through item analysis and factor analytic studies a final questionnaire was developed. This final version, The Student Self-Attitude Questionnaire, contained 31 items, 15 measuring attitude to self, 9 measuring attitude to school and 7 measuring attitude to teacher. -- A questionnaire to rate the teacher's perception of specific student behaviors was designed. Ten students in each grade in the sample were selected randomly and their teachers were asked to rate each of them individually on the items. Teachers' and students' ratings were correlated and found to be low. -- The internal consistency of the questionnaire was comparable to that of other self-concept instruments. The test-retest findings were lower. Factor analysis procedures indicated the presence of construct validity in the study sample. The test-retest reliability and empirical validity findings were low, suggesting the questionnaire would not be applicable for individual diagnosis. -- The theoretical constructs, the statistical data, and the reliability and validity studies were comprehensive. The results of the study indicate that the questionnaire is adequate for research purposes.