Adaptation of the Energy Literacy Scale into Turkish: A Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to adapt the "Energy Literacy Scale" developed by DeWaters, Qaqish, Graham and Powers (2013) into Turkish and to ensure its reliability and validity for the Turkish context. The items were first translated into Turkish and then back translated into English. In the next stage, the consistency between the translations was checked to analyze any missing in meaning. English lecturer evaluated items' comprehensibility levels, word and sentence structures and cultural compliance level. The scale was administered to 550 students from middle schools in the city of Mugla. Then, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was firstly conducted to establish the construct validity of the scale. Later, to test the model fit of the item-factor structure obtained from EFA, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was run. Finally, Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated for the whole scale and for each factor. The results appeared a three-factor scale (cognitive, affective and behavioral). Moreover, the internal consistency coefficients for each factor ranged from .72 to .82 as well as the coefficient for the whole scale was found to be .83. Overall, a valid and reliable scale was developed to evaluate secondary school students' energy literacy levels of energy education.