The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure the sense of competence of traditional age college students across the dimensions that define the construct. The Sense of Competence Scale-Revised (SCS-R) was developed to provide a measure of Chickering’s (1969) first vector, an important psychosocial construct. Administrators can use data from the instrument to modify an institution’s academic and social environment to enhance the development of the intellectual, physical, and interpersonal competencies of college students. During the development and validation, various aspects of the SCS-R were examined in accordance with the validity framework outlined by Messick (1995). According to Messick (1995), the validity of measures can be examined in terms of six forms of evidence; content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external and consequential. The six forms of evidence function as general standards for all educational measurement (Messick, 1995). During the study the content aspect of validity was addressed through the creation of concept maps and test blueprints. In addition, the content aspect of validity was addressed by creating and selecting items by reviewing the literature and hosting brainstorming sessions, items were then reviewed by student development theory experts, pilot tested, field tested and then items with high technical quality were selected for the final instrument. The substantive aspect of validity was addressed through an analysis of item rating scale functioning, person fit to the measurement scales, and item difficulty. The structural aspect of validity was addressed by evidence of the instrument’s dimensionality. The generalizability aspect of validity was addressed through an analysis of item/person reliability. The evidence generated from the study suggested that the chosen items for the SCS-R provide reliable and valid estimates of a student’ s personal assessment of their intellectual, physical and interpersonal abilities. / Ph. D.

Employee engagement is a relatively new construct in academic literature and an increasingly popular idea in practice. Proponents of employee engagement claim a strong positive relationship between engagement and business success, both at the firm and individual levels, and outcomes including retention, productivity, profitability, and customer loyalty and satisfaction. Despite numerous academic and practitioner publications on employee engagement, no consistently-accepted conceptualization of the construct or its sub-dimensions exists, and there is an ongoing debate regarding whether the employee engagement construct is a new idea or a re-hashing of old ideas. Similarly, no consistently-accepted tool to measure employee engagement exists. In the absence of consistent conceptualization and measurement, relationships between employee engagement and its antecedents and outcomes cannot be empirically tested. Drawing on prior literature and practitioner interviews, the present study defines employee engagement as an attitude towards one’s work at one’s company, comprising feelings of vigor, dedication, and absorption; cognitive appraisals of psychological empowerment; and motivation to act, both within role and extra role, in the service of the organization’s goals. In addition, the present study validates a self-report instrument to measure this conceptualization of employee engagement, using construct and scale validation procedures accepted in marketing and information systems literature.

This study concerned the development of measures for youth civic development in Malaysia with four major goals in mind, namely conceptual, measurement, baseline/pragmatic, and predictive goals. It was a preliminary study of its kind in Malaysia as Malaysia did not participate in any international or regional study such as the IEA Civic Study. The central intention of the study was to establish a conceptually valid assessment framework and psychometrically sound instruments for the measurement of youth civic development in Malaysia. This would, in turn, provide some baseline information upon which future research on youth civic development in Malaysia could build. Civics as a subject was removed from the Malaysian school curriculum in the early 1980s and Civic and Citizenship Education as a specific subject, with an explicit structure and curriculum framework, was reintroduced only in 2005. It was not feasible at the time when this study was conducted to conduct a specific assessment on the outcomes for school-aged students as explicated and expected in the curriculum framework. Therefore, the post-school-aged group of young undergraduates in public universities within the age range of 17-28 was selected as the target population. Firstly, a conceptualisation of youth civic development was synthesized by identifying current views on citizenship, as set out in the international literature and, specifically, in Malaysia in two major documents – the Rukenagara and Vision2020. Civic development consists of three variables of Civic Knowledge (CK) (knowledge about the legal status and associated rights and responsibilities of citizens); Civic Disposition (CD) (views on identity and attitudes as a citizen); and Civic Engagement (CE) (participation as a citizen). The relationship between civic development variables was explicated through a Neo-Vygotskian cultural-historical theory of human development. In addition, Bronfenbrenner’s Socio-Ecological Theory of human development was adopted for the selection of contextual and individual factors (the independent variables) for the conceptual model. To help ensure cross-cultural validity for use within the Malaysian socio-cultural context, the three dependent variables of CK, CD and CE, and the independent variables were appraised for their suitability for use within the Malaysian socio-cultural context before they were operationalized into observable indicators. Secondly, the Rasch measurement paradigm, framework and model were adopted as the foundation for instrument development and validation. The procedures for instrument development followed Wilson’s model of four building blocks of instrument development (Wilson, 2005). Three instruments were developed for this study, namely The Malaysian Civic Knowledge Inventory (MCKI), The Malaysian Civic Disposition Inventory (MCDI), and the Malaysian Civic Engagement Inventory (MCEI). Items from existing instruments in international literature were adopted or adapted for the three instruments, especially the MCEI, if there was construct equivalence in Rukunegara and Vision 2020. This was to ensure a cumulative tradition in research on youth civic development. Most of the items in the MCKI and the MCDI however were developed specifically for this study to capture the specificity of the civic culture of Malaysia. The target population for the study was undergraduate students enrolled in Malaysian public universities. Students at one public university were chosen as the accessible population. Data were collected in February 2006 (pilot study) and from July to August 2006 (main study). The sample for this study (N=1391) was drawn through multistage cluster sampling by study concentration, level of study, and clusters based on lecture/tutorial group. The sample also, by default, included major inherent characteristics of the target population, particularly gender (Male and Female) and ethnicity (Malay, Chinese, Indian and other ethnic groups). Rasch analyses confirmed the three-dimensional structure of youth civic development. Three measurement scales with acceptable psychometric properties were established to provide measures for the three dependent variables of CK, CD and CE. The hypotheses about civic development (in terms of CK, CD and CE) as a ‘tool and result’ activity were tested through path analyses of mediational relationships based on Baron and Kenny’s criteria (1986) using the Rasch-derived linearized scores from the main study. Analyses provided statistical support for a bidirectional association between each pair of CK, CD and CE, despite the low inter-correlations between them. This study revealed that, on average, youth in this study demonstrated a moderately high level of CK (Mean =1.11, SD = 0.77), a positive CD (Mean = 1.25; SD = 0.63) but a moderately low CE (Mean = -0.44; SD = 0.92). The Malay sub-sample scored, on average, higher on all three dimensions of civic development. The results of hierarchical multiple regressions however showed the effect of ethnicity (Malay or Non-Malay) was statistically non-significant when other contextual (home, curricular and co-curricular) variables were entered into the regression equation. This indicates it is not ethnicity that predicts levels of civic development, but rather it is the differences in other socio-political entitlements and status associated with ethnic status. Three selected collective social-contextual factors of home, curriculum and co-curriculum explained only a fairly modest but statistically significant amount of variance (10 to 20%) in the dependent variables. Finally, the findings were discussed in relation to the theoretical perspectives undergirding this study. Pragmatic implications for policy planning as well as other relevant stakeholders involved in youth civic development are also discussed.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to provide a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to collect radiologic science faculty members' perceptions of online education. Using a survey modified from an existing study, data were collected concerning faculty perceptions of online education in radiologic sciences. R was used to analyze the survey data through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, short form optimization, and weighted multiple regression analysis to produce an instrument that exhibits both content and construct validity, is reliable, and is a shortened, optimized version of the original instrument. The findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided to begin work broadening this under-researched area in the field of radiologic sciences.

No description available.

Students' motivation generally declines during the middle school years, a period of time when important foundations for further studies are laid. There is a move in many countries to improve science education, especially science literacy that is inadequate according to international research (Halldorsson, Olafsson, and Bjornsson, 2007, 2013). The subject of this dissertation is the translation and validation of the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MMAMI; Jones, 2012) from English into Icelandic. The purpose for the translation is to provide Icelandic educators with a tool to assess students' motivation in the science classroom. Motivation in the classroom is a complex issue in which both cognitive and contextual factors are involved. The information gained from the inventory responses could be used to guide the development or modification of the classroom strategies employed. The inventory measures students' perceptions of the five components of the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest and Caring, components that have been found to be influential to student motivation (Jones, 2009). The model is based on a thorough analysis of motivation theories and research. The inventory was developed for middle school students in science classes, although it can easily be modified to fit any subject. Back-translation followed by expert meetings was used to gain semantic equivalence. Participants were 458 middle school students in science classes in five public schools in Iceland. To obtain translation invariance in the first version of the translation, I used an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on one data set, using Principal Axis Factoring with Promax Rotation, to examine the translated items. Subsequently, I implemented a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on a second data set to test for model fit. The results replicated the findings obtained with the original version and confirmed the five-factor structure of the MMAMI. All factor loadings were significant. The reliability analysis, using Cronbach's alpha, also replicated the good and acceptable alpha ratings of the original instrument. These findings provide validity evidence for the scores produced by using the Icelandic version of the MMAMI with middle school Icelandic students in science classes / Ph. D.

Os Cuidados Paliativos (CPs) são imprescindíveis para o tratamento integral e humanizado de pessoas com doenças crônico-degenerativas potencialmente fatais. As avaliações, além de direcionarem a prática clínica dos profissionais, também revelam o impacto da doença no cotidiano dos pacientes; as avaliações de Qualidade de Vida (QV) tornam-se necessárias no contexto dos CPs e podem ser feitas por meio da utilização de instrumentos de medidas de construtos que sejam válidos e confiáveis. A escala Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS), desenvolvida na Inglaterra e amplamente difundida na literatura internacional, mostrou-se válida e confiável para avaliar a QV de pacientes em CPs. Logo, o objetivo deste estudo foi validar, para o português do Brasil, a versão self (destinada ao paciente) da POS (a POS-Br). Trata-se de um estudo metodológico, do tipo transversal, de caráter quantitativo e descritivo, com pacientes oncológicos em CPs. Foram realizadas as etapas de adaptação cultural, validação semântica, teste piloto e etapa de campo. O cenário de estudo foi um hospital público, universitário, de elevada complexidade, localizado no interior do Estado de São Paulo. A coleta de dados contou com 21 participantes no pré-teste, 50 participantes no teste piloto e 200 participantes na etapa de campo. Foram aplicados os instrumentos: POS-Br (versão self adaptada), questionário de caracterização clínica e sociodemográfica e o European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnarie Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30); além desses, foram aplicados também questionários de validação semântica e de avaliação geral da POS-Br (pré-teste). A fidedignidade foi avaliada por meio da consistência interna da escala total (alfa de Cronbach); a estrutura fatorial da escala foi verificada pela Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC); e a validade de construto foi avaliada através da validade convergente (assumindo correlações entre a POS-Br e o EORTC QLQ-C30). Durante a validação semântica (pré-teste), podem-se perceber a aceitação e a compreensão dos pacientes acerca da POS-Br. Todos os pacientes consideraram os itens da POS-Br relevantes para a sua situação/condição clínica. A fidedignidade da escala foi comprovada pelo alto grau de consistência interna, com valor do coeficiente alfa de Cronbach de 0,82. A escala POS-Br manteve sua estrutura fatorial de dois fatores, nomeados fator 1 -POS-Br - Psicológico? e fator 2 -POS-Br - Atendimentos nos CPs?, com valores de RMSEA = 0,072, CFI = 0,992 e TLI = 0,987. Em relação à validade de construto, foi observada validade convergente adequada (correlações superiores a 0,4) para o fator 1 e o domínio -funcionamento emocional?, fator 1 e os sintomas -fadiga? e -dor?, o fator 2 e os domínios -funcionamento social? e -desempenho de papel?. O modelo de risco proporcional de Cox mostrou que, a cada ponto obtido na escala POS-Br, o risco de morte aumentou em 12,6%. Os resultados encontrados apontam que a POS-Br é um instrumento válido e fidedigno que poderá ser incluído na prática clínica e nas pesquisas com pacientes em CPs / Palliative Care (PC) is essential for the comprehensive and humanized treatment of people with potentially fatal chronic-degenerative diseases. The evaluations, besides directing the clinical practice of the professionals, also reveal the impact of the disease in the daily life of the patients; Quality of life (QoL) assessments are necessary in the context of PC, and they can be made through the use of valid and reliable construct measurement instruments. The Palliative care Outcome Scale, developed in England and widely disseminated in the international literature, proved to be valid and reliable for assessing the QoL of patients in PC.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to validate, for the Portuguese of Brazil, the self version (intended for patient) of the POS (the POS-Br). This is a validation study of scale, cross-sectional, quantitative and descriptive, with oncology patients in PC. The cultural adaptation, semantic validation, pilot study and the field phase were undertaken. The study setting is a public, tertiary university hospital care in the state of São Paulo. Data collection included 21 participants in the pre-test, 50 participants in the pilot test and 220 participants in the field phase. The following instruments applied was: POS-Br (revised), clinical and sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnarie Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30); apart from these questionnaires, the semantic validation and general evaluation of POS-Br (pre-test) were also applied. Reliability was assessed by the internal consistency of the full scale (Cronbach\'s alpha); the factorial structure of the scale was verified by Factorial Confirmatory Analysis (AFC); and construct validity was assessed by convergent validity (assuming correlations between the POS-Br and the EORTC QLQ-C30). During the semantic validation (pre-test), the patient\'s acceptance and understanding of the POS-Br. 100% of the patients considered POS-Br items relevant to their clinical situation / condition. The reliability of the scale was evidenced by the high degree of internal consistency, with Cronbach\'s alpha coefficient value of 0.82. The POS-Br scale maintained its factorial structure of two factors, named factor 1 \"POS-Br - Psychological\" and factor 2 \"POS-Br - Attendance in PC\", with RMSEA values = 0,072, CFI = 0,992 and TLI = 0,997. Regarding construct validity, adequate convergent validity (correlations bigger than 0.4) for factor 1 and the \"emotional functioning\" domain, factor 1, and \"fatigue\" and \"pain\" symptoms, factor 2 and \"Social functioning\" and \"paper performance\" domains. The Cox proportional hazards model showed that at each point obtained on the POS-Br scale the risk of death increased by 12.6%. The results point to validity and reliability of the POS-Br, an instrument that can be included in clinical practice and research with patients in PC

Em 2015, no Brasil, a taxa de doação de sangue para o país foi estimada pelo Ministério da Saúde em 18,2 doações por 1.000 habitantes, enquanto em 2014, esta taxa era 18,49. A manutenção dos estoques de sangue no país é um desafio constante nos serviços de hemoterapia e estratégias de captação e fidelização dos doadores são essenciais. Assim, é necessário conhecer as expectativas do doador em relação ao atendimento durante a doação e identificar o que o deixa satisfeito em relação ao serviço prestado. Os questionários usuais de satisfação, encontrados na literatura, voltados a clientes ou pacientes não são diretamente aplicáveis a doadores, uma vez que os doadores não são propriamente conceituados como indivíduos que comparecem à instituição somente para receber um produto ou atendimento, mas participam de um processo em que contribuem oferecendo gratuitamente um bem de natureza material, que é seu próprio sangue. Diante da ausência de instrumentos validados em língua portuguesa, o objetivo do presente estudo é construir um instrumento capaz de avaliar a satisfação do doador de sangue, bem como estudar a validade de construto e consistência interna. O estudo será conduzido em quatro etapas: (1) desenvolvimento do instrumento com base em grupos focais e no instrumento introduzido por Borges et al. (2005), (2) validação de conteúdo, considerando a avaliação do instrumento por um grupo de especialistas, (3) pré-teste do instrumento e (4) aplicação do instrumento para validação em uma amostra de 1.019 doadores de sangue. O instrumento proposto possui 25 itens que caracterizam atributos da satisfação do doador de sangue, divididos em três domínios: acesso/conveniência, aspectos técnicos e aspectos interpessoais. O instrumento apresentou satisfatória consistência interna, quanto ao conjunto de itens. Propõe-se o gráfico desempenho-importância (GDI) como uma ferramenta simples de interpretação dos dados obtidos pelo instrumento, na rotina de monitoramento da qualidade do serviço prestado por bancos de sangue. Considerando os dados obtidos para a amostra de 1.019 doadores, o GDI permitiu identificar os itens que, se melhorados, a satisfação geral do doador tenderá a aumentar, bem como os itens que precisam ser mantidos para a garantia da satisfação do doador. O instrumento proposto poderá contribuir para a qualidade dos serviços de hemoterapia, ao capturar informações capazes de descrever os aspectos em que os doadores se sentem insatisfeitos quanto ao atendimento ou serviços prestados. / In 2015, the blood donation rate for the country was estimated by the Ministry of Health by 18.2 donations per 1,000 inhabitants, whereas in 2014, this rate was 18.49. The maintenance of blood stocks in the country is a constant in hemotherapy services and the strategies of donor recruitment and loyalty are essential. Thus, it is necessary to know donor\'s expectations regarding the assistance during the donation and to identify what makes them feel satisfied with the service delivered. The usual satisfaction questionnaires, found in the literature, designed to customers or patients are not directly applicable to donors, once donors are not properly conceived as subjects who attend to the institution only to receive a product or care, actually they take part in a process to which they contribute by offering goods of material nature for free, in this case their own blood. Upon the absence of validated instruments in Portuguese, the aim of this study is to construct an instrument capable of assessing blood donor\'s satisfaction, as well as to study its validity and internal consistence. The study will be conducted in four steps: (1) development of the instrument based on focus groups and on the instrument introduced by Borges et al. (2005), (2) validation of the content, considering the instrument evaluation by a group of experts, (3) instrument pre-test, and (4) application of the instrument to validate a sample of 1,019 blood donors. The instrument proposed has 25 items characterizing the attributes of blood donor\'s satisfaction, divided in three domains: access/convenience, technical aspects, and interpersonal aspects. The instrument showed satisfactory internal consistence in relation to the set of items. We propose the performance-importance graph (PIG) as a simple tool for the interpretation of the data obtained by the instrument, in the routine of quality monitoring of the service delivered by blood banks. Considering the data obtained for the sample of 1,019 donors, the PIG allowed to identify the items that, if improved, donor\'s overall satisfaction should tend to increase, as well as the items that have to be kept in order to guarantee donor\'s satisfaction. The instrument proposed might contribute to the quality of hemotherapy services by capturing information capable of describing the aspects donors feel most unsatisfied with, in relation to the attention or services delivered.

Em 2015, no Brasil, a taxa de doação de sangue para o país foi estimada pelo Ministério da Saúde em 18,2 doações por 1.000 habitantes, enquanto em 2014, esta taxa era 18,49. A manutenção dos estoques de sangue no país é um desafio constante nos serviços de hemoterapia e estratégias de captação e fidelização dos doadores são essenciais. Assim, é necessário conhecer as expectativas do doador em relação ao atendimento durante a doação e identificar o que o deixa satisfeito em relação ao serviço prestado. Os questionários usuais de satisfação, encontrados na literatura, voltados a clientes ou pacientes não são diretamente aplicáveis a doadores, uma vez que os doadores não são propriamente conceituados como indivíduos que comparecem à instituição somente para receber um produto ou atendimento, mas participam de um processo em que contribuem oferecendo gratuitamente um bem de natureza material, que é seu próprio sangue. Diante da ausência de instrumentos validados em língua portuguesa, o objetivo do presente estudo é construir um instrumento capaz de avaliar a satisfação do doador de sangue, bem como estudar a validade de construto e consistência interna. O estudo será conduzido em quatro etapas: (1) desenvolvimento do instrumento com base em grupos focais e no instrumento introduzido por Borges et al. (2005), (2) validação de conteúdo, considerando a avaliação do instrumento por um grupo de especialistas, (3) pré-teste do instrumento e (4) aplicação do instrumento para validação em uma amostra de 1.019 doadores de sangue. O instrumento proposto possui 25 itens que caracterizam atributos da satisfação do doador de sangue, divididos em três domínios: acesso/conveniência, aspectos técnicos e aspectos interpessoais. O instrumento apresentou satisfatória consistência interna, quanto ao conjunto de itens. Propõe-se o gráfico desempenho-importância (GDI) como uma ferramenta simples de interpretação dos dados obtidos pelo instrumento, na rotina de monitoramento da qualidade do serviço prestado por bancos de sangue. Considerando os dados obtidos para a amostra de 1.019 doadores, o GDI permitiu identificar os itens que, se melhorados, a satisfação geral do doador tenderá a aumentar, bem como os itens que precisam ser mantidos para a garantia da satisfação do doador. O instrumento proposto poderá contribuir para a qualidade dos serviços de hemoterapia, ao capturar informações capazes de descrever os aspectos em que os doadores se sentem insatisfeitos quanto ao atendimento ou serviços prestados. / In 2015, the blood donation rate for the country was estimated by the Ministry of Health by 18.2 donations per 1,000 inhabitants, whereas in 2014, this rate was 18.49. The maintenance of blood stocks in the country is a constant in hemotherapy services and the strategies of donor recruitment and loyalty are essential. Thus, it is necessary to know donor\'s expectations regarding the assistance during the donation and to identify what makes them feel satisfied with the service delivered. The usual satisfaction questionnaires, found in the literature, designed to customers or patients are not directly applicable to donors, once donors are not properly conceived as subjects who attend to the institution only to receive a product or care, actually they take part in a process to which they contribute by offering goods of material nature for free, in this case their own blood. Upon the absence of validated instruments in Portuguese, the aim of this study is to construct an instrument capable of assessing blood donor\'s satisfaction, as well as to study its validity and internal consistence. The study will be conducted in four steps: (1) development of the instrument based on focus groups and on the instrument introduced by Borges et al. (2005), (2) validation of the content, considering the instrument evaluation by a group of experts, (3) instrument pre-test, and (4) application of the instrument to validate a sample of 1,019 blood donors. The instrument proposed has 25 items characterizing the attributes of blood donor\'s satisfaction, divided in three domains: access/convenience, technical aspects, and interpersonal aspects. The instrument showed satisfactory internal consistence in relation to the set of items. We propose the performance-importance graph (PIG) as a simple tool for the interpretation of the data obtained by the instrument, in the routine of quality monitoring of the service delivered by blood banks. Considering the data obtained for the sample of 1,019 donors, the PIG allowed to identify the items that, if improved, donor\'s overall satisfaction should tend to increase, as well as the items that have to be kept in order to guarantee donor\'s satisfaction. The instrument proposed might contribute to the quality of hemotherapy services by capturing information capable of describing the aspects donors feel most unsatisfied with, in relation to the attention or services delivered.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivos traduzir e adaptar para o português brasileiro o instrumento psicométrico Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R), apresentando evidências de validade para essa versão. Essa medida avalia quatro dimensões da motivação para o uso de bebidas alcoólicas: motivos de tipo social, realce, coping e conformidade. O trabalho é apresentado em forma de dois artigos independentes. No primeiro, é feita uma revisão seletiva de literatura, buscando apresentar o construto, distingui-lo de expectativas sobre o uso de álcool e enfatizar seu papel como preditores e mediadores em estudos na área. No segundo artigo, são apresentados dois estudos sobre a estrutura fatorial da versão em português brasileiro do DMQ-R. Estratégias exploratórias e confirmatórias foram empregadas de forma complementar para investigar a estrutura mais representativa dos dados amostrais. Um modelo revisado de quatro fatores foi selecionado como a melhor alternativa, sendo apresentadas dificuldades metodológicas dos estudos e sugestões para estudos futuros. / This work aimed to translate and adapt to Brazilian Portuguese the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R) presenting validity evidences to this version. The measure assesses four dimensions of alcohol use motivation: social, enhancement, coping and conformity. The work is organized in two independent papers. In the first one, a review of the literature is done, presenting the construct, differentiating it from drinking expectancies and emphasizing its role as predictors and mediators of alcohol use. In the second one, two studies regarding the factorial structure of the Brazilian Portuguese version of DMQ-R are presented. Exploratory and confirmatory strategies were employed complementarily to evaluate the most representative structure for the data. A revised, four-factor model was chosen as the best solution. Methodological difficulties and suggestions for future research are discussed.