High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 16;17(3):e0265392. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265392. eCollection 2022.
Several studies reveal a problematic prevalence of research misbehaviors. There are several potential causes of research misconduct but ensuring that scientists hold attitudes that reflect norms of acceptable behaviors is fundamental.
Our aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties (factor structure and reliability) of an "attitude" scale that we adopted from a questionnaire we previously used to investigate the prevalence of research misbehaviors in the Middle East.
We used data from participants (n = 254) who were involved in our prior questionnaire study to determine the validity of an attitude scale that we adapted from this previous study. We performed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine the factor structure of the attitude scale followed by measures of convergent and concurrent validity. We assessed reliability by computing the Cronbach's alphas of each construct of the attitude scale.
EFA indicated that the attitude scale consists of two factors (constructs). Convergent validity was demonstrated by significant correlations of item-item and item-total. Correlation analysis revealed that the attitude constructs were significantly correlated with the Research Misbehavior Severity Score, thereby demonstrating concurrent validity. Cronbach's alphas were greater than 0.75 for both constructs.
We demonstrated a valid and reliable 20-item attitude scale with two factors related to "acceptability of practices in responsible conduct in research" and "general attitudes regarding scientific misconduct". The use of a validated attitude scale can help assess the effectiveness of educational programs that focus on participants acquiring attitudes that are instrumental in responsible conduct in research.
多项研究揭示了研究行为失范的普遍问题。研究不端行为存在多种潜在原因，但确保科学家持有反映可接受行为规范的态度是至关重要的。
我们旨在评估从我们之前用于调查中东地区研究不端行为发生率的问卷中采用的“态度”量表的心理测量特性（结构和信度）。
我们使用了之前问卷调查研究中（n=254）参与者的数据，以确定我们从该研究中改编的态度量表的有效性。我们进行了探索性因素分析（EFA），以确定态度量表的结构，然后进行了聚合和同时效度的测量。我们通过计算态度量表每个构念的克朗巴赫α系数来评估信度。
EFA 表明，态度量表由两个因素（构念）组成。项目-项目和项目-总分的显著相关性证明了聚合效度。相关性分析表明，态度构念与研究不端行为严重程度得分显著相关，从而证明了同时效度。两个构念的克朗巴赫α系数均大于 0.75。
我们展示了一个有效的、可靠的 20 项态度量表，包含两个与“负责任的研究行为实践的可接受性”和“对科学不端行为的一般态度”相关的因素。使用经过验证的态度量表可以帮助评估以参与者获得对负责任的研究行为至关重要的态度为重点的教育计划的效果。
