The purposes of this study were: 1) to determine the measurement dimensions assayed by the EPIC Self-Assessment Scales; 2) to provide information necessary to'determine whether revision of the EPIC Self-Assessment Scales would be desirable, and if so, what items need revision or deletion to obtain optimum dimensional structure; and 3) to provide information relevant to possible further research using the EPIC Self-Assessment Scales. On the basis of the results, four dominant and two subsidiary factors were concluded to be the measurement dimensions assayed by the EPIC Scales. Those were identified as Self-Assurance, Physical Appearance/Physical Shape, Emotional Lability, and Verbal Competence; subsidiary factors were Social/Interpersonal Attitude and Social Behavior/Sociability. It was also concluded that revision of the Scales be undertaken, deleting the 29 bipolar scale items which did not exhibit loadings of .500 or higher on any of the six factors. It was recommended that the revised Scales include additional bipolar scale items taken from the semantic differential literature, and that the instructions to subjects be revised. Further research to establish the reliability and validity of the revised instrument was also recommended.

A 75-item, Likert-type employee attitude survey was completed by a sample of 670 hourly and salaried employees of a Southwestern company engaged in computerized tax-form processing. The survey contained items relating to attitude dimensions roughly analogous to those subsumed under the two-factor theory of job satisfaction as defined in the relevant literature. Factor analysis, using the principle axes solution, followed by both orthogonal (varimax) and oblique (direct oblimin) rotations was performed. The oblique rotation derived 11 factors which accounted for 87.3% of the common variance. These lent statistical support to 10 of 16 a priori, hypothesized attitudinal dimensions. The six remaining hypothesized dimensions were not empirically supported.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Family resilience has become an important concept in mental health and family research over the past twenty years. An assessment tool that was found to assess this concept within western English-speaking populations is the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS). The FRAS was developed by Sixbey and is based on Walsh’s model of family resilience, a prominent theorist in family resilience research. A recent study has translated and adapted the original scale into Afrikaans, which is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. This was done for the FRAS to be utilised in a context other than the one it was developed for.

School districts face unique challenges as they implement social and emotional learning (SEL) initiatives, particularly when choosing or developing a high-quality scale to measure non-academic competencies. Like collaborations with the CORE school districts described by West, Buckley, et al. (2018) and the Washoe County School District described by Davidson et al. (2018), Alpine School District (ASD) partnered with Brigham Young University (BYU) to develop a scale (80 items) that reflected their Vision for Learning framework. In this pilot study, I describe the collaborative and iterative process used to develop a shortened version of the ASD Social and Emotional Well-Being Scale Beta Form A (23 items), which was administered to 461 secondary level students in the Spring of 2021. I implemented a relatively novel approach of comparing the results from exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) with target rotation with the results obtained from the more traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as a part of the iterative process. The scores of the resulting shortened version achieved acceptable fit (CFI = .97, TLI = .96, SRMR = .03, RMSEA = .06), high factor loadings (M = .80, SD = .09), high reliability indices by sub-scale (M = .94, SD = .03), and measurement invariance across gender and school level. I discuss insights that resulted from this novel approach in the development process, and make recommendations for its use, specifically in the field of SEL measurement. I end by encouraging the collaborative efforts between practitioners and researchers as a way of increasing capacities within districts, facilitating larger scale research, and ensuring the usefulness of findings.

A limited number of culturally appropriate personality assessments are currently available in South Africa due to the mass importation of psychometric assessments in the past. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) project was initiated as a result of the growing demand for culturally appropriate assessment instruments as well as the change in South African legislation regarding psychometric testing (Section 8 of the Employment Equity Act, No. 47 of 2013). The SAPI project aims to identify universal and culture-specific personality traits for all 11 language groups in South Africa. The project’s central research objectives are to develop a personality instrument that complies with South African legislation, meets all the regular criteria for adequate assessment as formulated in psychology, and is relevant for South-African institutions. The SAPI project consists of multiple studies that are aimed at enabling the use of the SAPI within the open market in order to allow practitioners to validly assess personality within the South African context. This study forms part of the quantitative body of work within the SAPI project and builds on the literature of the SAPI, resulting in a more acceptable instrument. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether block– or random-item sequencing provides the best factorial replication within the framework of the SAPI. This was investigated by comparing the results obtained by administering both block- and random versions of the SAPI to a total sample of N=429 respondents at multiple private nursing education institutions. Both the block– and random-SAPI versions consisted of 262 closed-ended questions that were administered using a pen-and-paper methodology. The data preparation indicated that four block- and 19 random-items were problematic and could not be included in the analysis. After removing the problematic items, a strategy was used to formulate a conclusion pertaining to the superior item sequence. This strategy included performing an exploratory factor analysis on each of the nine factors for both the random- and block-response sets. The factor loadings were analyzed, interpreted and presented separately. The researcher looked at the most plausible sub-cluster structure for each of the nine factors, followed by assessing the structural similarity between the two response sets by comparing them to the conceptual qualitative personality structure to identify which response set was more closely related. The reliability of all the factors and sub-clusters for both response sets were also analysed and reported. The final conclusion was derived from an overall comparison made between the block- and random response sets. By utilizing the strategy it was determined that the block response set provided for a better structurally and factorially valid framework when applied to the conceptual personality structure of the SAPI. However, upon closer inspection, the differences between the block- and random response sets seem to be trivial. The findings therefore indicate that the random response set can also be used as only minor differences were noticed when compared to the block response set. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) has been the subject of widespread debate over the years. Initially conceptualised by Rosenberg as a undimensional measure of global self-esteem, other studies have found evidence that challenges this notion, suggesting that this scale is in fact a multidimensional measure. The aim of this study was to investigate the construct validity of the RSES among South African university students. The RSES was administered to students from two different South African universities located in different regions (N = 304). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used in order to investigate the factor structure of the RSES and correlations were run between the RSES and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES) to investigate the relationship between self-esteem and self-efficacy. The PCA findings yielded a single factor structure of the RSES in the South African university student sample and a significant positive correlation was observed between self-esteem and self-efficacy. The findings therefore supported the construct validity of the RSES within the South African university context. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

This work presents the evaluation and refinement of a chemistry attitude measure, Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI), for college students. The original 20-item and revised eight-item versions of ASCI (V1, V2, V3 and V3.1) were administered to different samples. The evaluation for ASCI had two main foci on the psychometric properties: reliability and validity. Both psychological theory and factor analysis techniques were applied to guide instrument refinement. Evidence for good reliability and validity was established for ASCI V2 score interpretation. The two-factor correlated structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The two subscales, intellectual accessibility and emotional satisfaction, are indicators of cognition and affect components of attitude, and thus we can make good connection with tripartite attitude framework (cognition, affect and behavior) in psychology. As regards to attitude-achievement relationship, other than the well-known aptitude test score, students' attitude played a significant role in predicting final achievement in General Chemistry I course. This work represents the first time in the area of chemical education that a benchmark for scale development was successfully implemented to reconstruct an existing instrument. In addition to showcasing a method for examining validity, a second important result of this work is to recommend refinements that lead to greater ease of administration while improving validity: this eight item instrument now takes very little time to administer.

Title: Service Quality evaluation in fitness club Fit EffectFitness  Wellness Objectives: The main goal of this thesis is to do a marketing research of service quality in fitness club Fit EffectFitness  Wellness. The research is conducted using a questionnaire survey based on Brady's model. Another objective is to verify the reliability of individual questions in the questionnaire based on the results of statistical method of factor analysis. Methods: The primary method selected for this research was questionnaire with structure based on Brady's model. Another method of direct observation was applied in the environment of fitness club Fit EffectFitness Wellness. In addition, the structured interview with open questions was held at the fitness club to obtain basic background information. The statistical method of factor analysis was used to ensure the reliability of each individual question in the questionnaire. Results: The research results are represented in graphs, tables and classification crosses. Suggestions and recommendations were made for fitness club Fit EffectFitness  Wellness according to the obtained results. Keywors: sport services, customer, quality, satisfaction, factor analysis

[pt] O presente estudo tem por objetivo construir um modelo que permita a categorização dos fatores que geram o conceito de Risco Soberano e que defina as variáveis que compõem cada um deles. Para isso, usam-se os métodos estatísticos conhecidos como Análise Fatorial e Análise dos Componentes Principais. Apresenta-se como resultado do trabalho um modelo que é simultaneamente conciso - pelo pequeno número de variáveis que o compõem, em contraposição ao número elevado citado na literatura sobre o tema - e eficiente - uma vez que ele permite montar um Índice de Risco Soberano compatível com os ratings das principais agências internacionais e com os retornos de títulos soberanos. Utilizou-se o Coeficiente de Correlação de Postos de Spearman para proceder a comparação entre a ordenação de países pelo índice proposto e as ordenações derivadas dos ratings e dos retornos dos títulos. / [en] This study is designed to build a model which enables the categorization of factors that not only originates the concept of Sovereign Risk but also defines the variables that compound each factor. To fulfill such an objective, statistical methods known as Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis are employed. As result of this work, a model is presented that is simultaneously concise - given its small number of variables, in contrast to the large number of variables mentioned on the literature about this theme - and efficient - since it permits the creation of a Sovereign Risk Index that is compatible both with ratings of the major international agencies and with sovereign bond yields. In order to compare the countries ranking based on the Index to the rankings derived from ratings and bond yields, Spearman`s Ranking Correlation Coefficient is used. / [es] EL presente estudio tiene como objetivo construir un modelo que permita la categorización de los factores que generan el concepto de Riesgo Soberano y que defina las variables que lo componen. Para eso, se utilizan conocidos métodos estadísticos como Análisis Factorial y Análisis de Componentes Principales. Como resultado del trabajo se presenta un modelo que es simultáneamente conciso - por el pequeño número de variables que lo componen, en contraposición con el elevado número que es citado en la literatura sobre el tema - y eficiente - una vez que permite montar un Índice de Riesgo Soberano compatíble con los ratings de las principales agencias internacionales y con los retornos de títulos soberanos. Se utilizó el Coeficiente de Correlación de Spearman para comparar el orden de países por el índice propuesto y el orden derivado de los ratings y de los retornos de los títulos.

This paper assessed the redundancy of the construct of grit (Crede, Tynan, Harms, 2017) compared to other similar constructs using structural equation modeling to remove the effect of measurement error. A series of models regressed grit and its subdomains (passion and perseverance of effort) on self-control, conscientiousness, achievement striving, and resilience. The R-squared values for these models ranged from 0.62 to 0.89. It is concluded that the concept of grit is mostly redundant with other constructs and is therefore an example of a Jangle fallacy (Kelley, 1927). The unique aspect of grit is mostly related to its passion subdomain. The latent correlation between the passion and perseverance of effort subdomains was r = 0.19. Further, it was found that several popular measures failed to conform to their intended factor structure.