Investigating Category Changes in Survey Structure

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Survey Research in Education SIG Poster Session

Abstract

School climate, as a factor to increase student achievement, is receiving increased attention in the school improvement literature. Given this increased emphasis, it is important to study the psychometric properties of climate surveys. The current study will investigate the factor structure underlying a climate survey administered to elementary school students. Currently, information from these surveys is presented to the public in the form of item frequencies, with the four Likert response categories contained in the survey collapsed into two. The current study will investigate the factor structure of these surveys when the data is collapsed into a similar dichotomy. Additionally, this study will help inform stakeholders if the survey can be simplified by reducing the number of response categories.

Authors

• Elizabeth Leighton, University of South Carolina

• Mihaela Ene, University of South Carolina

• Zhaoxia Guo, University of South Carolina - Columbia

• Christine DiStefano, University of South Carolina

• Diane M. Monrad, University of South Carolina