Psychometric reevaluation of the scientific attitude inventory-revised (SAI-II)

  1. Michael J. Lichtenstein1,2,3,*,
  2. Steven V. Owen4,
  3. Cheryl L. Blalock1,2,
  4. Yan Liu1,2,
  5. Kacy A. Ramirez1,2,
  6. Linda A. Pruski1,2,
  7. Carolyn E. Marshall1,2,
  8. Mary Anne Toepperwein1,2

Article first published online: 8 APR 2008

DOI: 10.1002/tea.20244

Issue

Journal of Research in Science Teaching

Journal of Research in Science Teaching

Volume 45, Issue 5, pages 600–616, May 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lichtenstein, M. J., Owen, S. V., Blalock, C. L., Liu, Y., Ramirez, K. A., Pruski, L. A., Marshall, C. E. and Toepperwein, M. A. (2008), Psychometric reevaluation of the scientific attitude inventory-revised (SAI-II). Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45: 600–616. doi: 10.1002/tea.20244

Author Information

  1. 1

    Frederic C. Bartter General Clinical Research Center, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7877, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900

  2. 2

    Barshop Institute for Aging and Longevity Studies, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 15355 Lambda Drive, San Antonio, TX 78245

  3. 3

    Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900

  4. 4

    Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900

*Frederic C. Bartter General Clinical Research Center, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, MC 7877, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 23 APR 2008
  2. Article first published online: 8 APR 2008
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 28 SEP 2007
  4. Manuscript Received: 25 OCT 2006

Funded by

  • the Science Education Partnership Award. Grant Number: R25-RR-08549
  • National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), and the National Institute on Aging (NIA)
  • a Minority K-12 Initiative for Teachers and Students. Grant Number: R25-HL-075777
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
  • the Frederic C. Bartter General Clinical Research Center. Grant Number: MO1-RR-01346

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Keywords:

  • general science;
  • attitudes;
  • evaluation and theory;
  • statistics/multivariate;
  • survey

Abstract

The central purposes of this study were to review the development and evolution of the Scientific Attitude Inventory (SAI) and then reevaluate the psychometric properties of the revised form of the SAI, the Scientific Attitude Inventory II (SAI-II). The SAI-II was administered to a convenience sample of 543 middle and high school students from five teachers in four schools in four school districts in San Antonio, Texas, at the beginning of the 2004–2005 school year. Confirmatory factor analysis on the full data set failed to support the existence of a 12-factor structure (as proposed by the scale developers) or a one-factor structure. The data were then randomly divided into exploratory [exploratory factor analysis (EFA)] validation and confirmatory [confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)] cross-validation sets. Exploratory and confirmatory models yielded a three-factor solution that did not fit the data well [χ2 (321) = 646, p < .001; RMSEA = .061 (.90 CI = .054–.068); and CFI = .81]. The three factors were labeled “Science is About Understanding and Explaining” (13 items), “Science is Rigid” (6 items), and “I Want to Be a Scientist” (8 items). The α-coefficients for these three factors ranged from 0.59 to 0.85. Whether these identified subscales are valid will require independent investigation. In this sample, and consistent with prior publications, the SAI-II in its current form did not have satisfactory psychometric properties and cannot be recommended for further use. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 600–616, 2008

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