To obtain valid and reliable research findings it is important to follow the process to validate measuring instruments. This entails determining the psychometric properties of a measure to eliminate or decrease the presence of measurement errors. Measurement errors have a negative impact on the validity of research findings. The aim of this study was to perform a confirmatory factor analytic study on the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire (AIQ-IV) to assess the model fit of the data. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed as part of the process to assess construct validity of a questionnaire to discover the misrepresenting influences of these measurement errors and to provide a foundation for further research. The AIQ-IV was administered to a sample of 157 participants in the South African context including different race, gender, age and occupation groups, drawn by means of convenient sampling. The research results and fit indices indicated that the data reflected a reasonable model fit. Copyright 2010, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Els, L 2010, A confirmatory factor analytic study of the aspects of identity questionnaire (AIQ-IV), MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02092012-122330 / > C12/4/67/gm / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

This study aimed to observe measurement invariance between community college students and university students in response to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey instrument. Most studies of the CoI survey instruments have recorded and validated the instruments considering undergraduate or graduate students. This study sought to validate and prove the survey tool as a reliable instrument for the community college population. The study employed SEM and meta-analytic procedures to observe measurement invariance between a Monte Carlo generated general university sample population and the community college survey population. The findings are discussed, as well as the implications for CoI studies in the community college.

Usage of mixed mode is popular among researchers mainly because of its flexibility and possibility of lowered costs, time and response bias. Therefore engagement in analysis of potential differences and problems is necessary mainly in mapping effects of these combinations. My diploma thesis focuses on possibilities of equivalence of mixed mode PAPI and CAPI collection of data. I use Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (MG CFA) for analysing the equivalence of measurement. This is quite unusual method for analysing a mixed-mode and few researchers used it till now. Most of the studies focused on differences in answers of respondents caused by mode effect or cognitive process of answering the questions. Key words: Mixed mode design, equivalence, confirmatory factor analysis, CAPI and PAPI, mode effect

In this confirmatory factor analysis, factors previously identified to explain the variability in Middle School Mathematics Teachers’ perception of the Common Core State Standards of Mathematics were considered as factors hypothesized to effect high school math teachers’ perceptions of challenging math tasks (CMTs). The factor of student characterization (i.e., disposition, academic preparation, and student behavior) was additionally considered as a factor hypothesized to explain teachers’ perceptions of CMTs, as well as site-based variables (i.e., curriculum, assessment and evaluation, professional development, and collaboration). In addition, teachers’ understanding of the importance of the mathematical practice standards and teacher familiarity with enacting CMTs were factors considered in the model. The original septenary factor structure was modified and good model fit was achieved. In addition to the confirmatory factor analysis model which provides a structure for considering teachers perceptions of CMTs, descriptive statistics are presented from the survey developed that captured teachers’ perceptions of CMTs relative to their sites.

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[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo estudar as escalas empregadas na sociologia educacional como fatores importantes no desempenho escolar. Inicialmente usamos a Teoria da Resposta ao Item (TRI) não-paramétrica para estudar as propriedades das escalas unidimensionais obtidas para os construtos teóricos, capital social, capital cultural e capital econômico, dos estudantes peruanos, a partir de itens do questionário PISA 2000. Em seguida utilizamos a Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC) como uma metodologia alternativa para análise de ajuste dos modelos e para a verificação da dimensionalidade das três escalas construídas. Uma vez obtidas as escalas dos três construtos investigamos o efeito escola através de um modelo de regressão de dois níveis, ou seja, controlando pelas três escalas de capital como medidas pelos modelos da TRI e da AFC, no nível do aluno e no nível da escola. Assim, investigamos a contribuição da escola no desempenho escolar do aluno. Os resultados revelaram que a escala obtida para o construto capital econômico apresenta um coeficiente de escalonabilidade (H) alto, o que implica em uma escala forte, com boa capacidade de ordenamento dos respondentes. O construto capital social apresentou escalonabilidade intermediária e o construto capital cultural mostrou uma escalonabilidade fraca. Por outro lado, a análise do modelo de regressão multinível revelou que existe um efeito escola significativo, mesmo quando a proficiência dos alunos é controlada pelo capital cultural e pelo capital econômico no nível do aluno e pela capital cultural médio no nível da escola. Entre os fatores associados às diferenças no desempenho entre as escolas encontramos como significativos os recursos educativos, a infraestrutura física da escola, a motivação dos professores, e a escassez de professores; sendo que, a variável recursos educativos é a que explica a maior diferença. / [en] This work is a study on scales used in the sociology of education as important factors in student and school performance. First, we employ nonparametric item response theory to analyze the properties of three one-dimensional scales obtained from the PISA- 2000 data base, for the theoretical constructs, social capital, cultural capital and economic capital, of students from Peru. Then, we use confirmatory factor analysis as a way to examine construct dimensionality and to assess model fit. Last we use these scales in a two level model to investigate school effects: we use the three scales of capital, as measured by both methods, as controls at the student level and at the school level to investigate the school contribution to student performance. Our results has shown that we can obtain a fairly strong scale for economic capital, with a high scalability coefficient (H), which implies that the respondents can be well ordered with respect to the latent trait. The construct social capital presented an intermediate scalability and the construct cultural capital presented a low scalability. The multilevel analysis has shown that there remains a significant school effect, even after controlling students achievement by economic capital and cultural capital at student level and average cultural capital at school level. Among the factors related to the resulting differences in school achievement we found a significant effect due to the variables educational resources, school infrastructure, teacher's motivation and lack of teachers; and the first one educational resources is the one that accounts for the largest difference.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of exercise dependence, as well as conducting a re-evaluation of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R) through a confirmatory factor analysis. The study was based on three Swedish data collections (N = 1101), collected through online questionnaires answered by physically active adults. The study found a prevalence of exercise dependence between 3.6-9%, primary exercise dependence between 1.7-2.2%, and a prevalence of primary exercise dependence with anxiety management as motivation of 1.8% across the three data-collections. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the hypothesized 21-item 7-factor structure of the EDS-R contributed to a tolerable fit of data with good psychometric properties, although a poor factor loading of item 19 in the factor ‘Reduction in other activities’ was found. This study concludes that the EDS-R is a valid measurement of exercise dependence, but further research is needed to evaluate the relation between primary exercise dependence and anxiety management, as well as the construct validity of the individual items. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka prevalensen av träningsberoende, samt utföra en omvärdering av träningsberoendeskalan-reviderad (EDS-R) genom en konfirmatorisk faktoranalys. Studien baserades på tre svenska datakollektioner (N = 1101), insamlade genom online-enkäter besvarade av fysiskt aktiva vuxna. Studien fann en prevalens av träningsberoende mellan 3.6-9%, primärt träningsberoende mellan 1.7-2.2%, och en prevalens av primärt träningsberoende med ångesthantering som motivation på 1.8% över de tre datakollektionerna. Den konfirmatoriska faktoranalysen avslöjade att den hypotiserade 21-objekt 7-faktor strukturen av EDS-R bidrog till en tolerabel passform av data med goda psykometriska egenskaper, även om en dålig faktorladdning av objekt 19 i faktorn 'Reduktion i andra aktiviteter' hittades. Denna studie drar slutsatsen att EDS-R är ett giltigt mått på träningsberoende, men ytterligare forskning behövs för att utvärdera relationen mellan primärt träningsberoende och ångesthantering, samt konstruktionsvaliditeten för de enskilda objekten.

The main aim of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between team success and team cohesiveness with a sample of elite youth sport teams. The secondary aim of this international thesis was to translate and analyze the psychometric properties of responses to the Czech and Slovak versions of the Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire (YSEQ; Eys, Loughead, Bray, & Carron, 2009b) in a sample of elite youth handball and soccer players. The accomplishment of the second purpose involved three phases of research. First, the questionnaire was translated into the Czech and Slovak languages by method of parallel back-translation. In Phase 2, feedback was sought on the translated versions of each questionnaire from both researchers (N = 2) and athletes (N = 52) to ensure the clarity of the instructions and the readability of the items. Subsequent confirmatory analyses in the final phase provided an adequate fitting model for both Czech and Slovak versions with an independent sample (N = 352) from youth sport teams. These results offer further support to Eys et al.'s (2009b) proposed two dimensional model underlying their measure of cohesion for youth sport groups. In terms of the general purpose, we employed structural equation modeling to examine the direction of that relationship via a...

The Group Questionnaire (GQ) is a 30-item, self-report measure of the group relationship that was developed in the present study. It is based off of Johnson's new three factor model of the group relationship which includes Positive Bonding, Positive Working, and Negative Relationship. This study involved two parts, the creation of the GQ followed by the validation and refinement of the GQ using 486 participants from three populations - outpatient university counseling center, inpatient state hospital, and non-patient AGPA process groups. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to test the goodness-of-fit of Johnson's model to each of the populations separately and as a whole. Following the refinement process, results showed the GQ to have good fit to the model for each population. Distinct differences in response pattern were found between the three populations. Reliability estimates were predominantly in the good range. Implications for future utility of the GQ include using it as a clinically relevant and efficient assessment tool to inform clinicians of the quality of the group psychotherapy relationship and to potentially predict group outcome.

Over the past decade, many studies have provided some understanding on what influences association members‟ decision to attend a meeting; however, more systematic and theoretical research is necessary. The decision making process of attendees is a complicated human behavior practice. The major contribution of this study is adopting the sense of community (SOC) model from psychology to gain a better understanding of the attendee behavior. By doing so, this study will add a theoretical foundation to the existing research in the meeting industry. Also, this study will contribute to the SOC research in psychology by applying the concept to a different setting. This study investigates whether annual conferences build a SOC among association members. First, the SOC of association members at the conference will be analyzed. Second, the influence of SOC on members‟ satisfaction with the conference will be studied. Lastly, the direct and indirect relationship between SOC and future intentions (i.e., return to next meeting, membership renewal, and membership recommendation) will be examined. Data was collected through an intercept survey approach at three annual conferences of national/international associations. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: sense of community, satisfaction with the conference, future intentions, and member profile. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factor structure and structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships, and Spearman‟s rank order correlation was used to see the strength of the relationship between respondent characteristics and sense of community. The results showed that sense of community was a strong predictor of future iv intentions. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed in the final chapter.