Reliability and validity of the attitude towards research scale for a sample of industrial psychology students

Abstract

The study investigated the reliability and validity of the Attitudes towards Research Scale for a South African sample. A cross-sectional survey design was used and a convenience sample of postgraduate students in industrial psychology (N = 185) participated in the study. A biographical scale and the Attitudes towards Research Scale were administered. Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, correlations and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that none of the previously suggested one-factor, five-factor or three-factor structures of the Attitudes towards Research fitted the data well. A revised three-factor structure consisting of positive outlook on research, anxiety and difficulty, and the usefulness of research fitted the data acceptably. Students in this sample displayed positive attitudes towards research, regarded it as beneficial to them in their profession, but deemed it to be somewhat difficult and displayed moderate levels of anxiety about it.