Psychometric reevaluation of the Women in Science Scale (WiSS)

Abstract

The Women in Science Scale (WiSS) was first developed in 1984, and is still being used in contemporary studies, yet its psychometric properties have not been evaluated with current statistical methods. In this study, the WiSS was administered in its original 27-item form to 1,439 middle and high school students. Confirmatory factor analysis based upon the original description of the WiSS was modestly supportive of the proposed three-factor structure, but the claimed dimensions showed substantial redundancy. Therefore, we split our sample and performed exploratory factor analyses on one half. The most satisfactory solution, a two-factor model, was then applied to the crossvalidation sample with a confirmatory factor analysis. This two-factor structure was supported with a total of 14 items. Factor 1, Equality, contains eight items, and factor 2, Sexism, six items. Although our data are limited to adolescents, the WiSS, with improved psychometric properties, may be used descriptively to assess attitudes toward

The Effect of Gender on Attributions for Women’s Anxiety and Doubt in a Science Narrative

“…The measure was developed with male and female adolescent samples, and the items ask participants to consider statements about women in science such as, “A successful career is as important to a woman as it is to a man” (Erb & Smith, 1984, p. 393). This scale has shown high internal reliability as well as convergent validity with perceptions of scientists (e.g., Image of Science and Scientists Scale; Erb & Smith, 1984) and has been used with both adolescent and college samples (Owen et al, 2007).…”

Science Motivation Questionnaire: Construct validation with nonscience majors

“…Our use of exploratory factor analysis was consistent with that described by Byrne (2001) We had no prior knowledge that the items of the Science Motivation Questionnaire did, indeed, measure the motivational components discussed in the self-regulatory learning literature that were used to develop the items. For this reason, we used exploratory factor analysis to examine relationships among the items and identify a set of factors that describes in a concise and understandable manner how students view those relationships (Anderson, Fisher, & Norman, 2002;Owen et al, 2007;Pett, Lakey, & Sullivan, 2003). Our purpose was to examine the constructs measured by those items and obtain information that would be useful in the refinement of those items:…”

Finding pearls: Psychometric reevaluation of the Simpson–Troost Attitude Questionnaire (STAQ)

“…L. Gardner, 1975;Munby, 1980;Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003). Applying modern psychometric analyses to historically accepted and used instruments can result in shorter, more compact scales with stronger psychometric properties, thus setting the stage for further study Owen et al, 2007). Alternately, such an approach may reveal that a scale does not have sufficient psychometric properties to warrant recommendation for continued use Lichtenstein et al, 2008).…”