A statistical approach to quantitative data validation focused on the assessment of students’ perceptions about biotechnology

SpringerPlus

Table 2 Factor structure of the a ffective component of attitudes scale based on EFA and reliability analysis

		Identifiable factors		One sample t-test (test value = 3)
Item	h ²	*Human embryo research*	*Control capacity*	M	SD	t(1195)	p
Q6a. It is our duty to authorize investigation that may lead to the development of more efficient medical treatments, even if it implies using embryonic stem cells	0.67	0.80		2.98	1.23	−0.63	0.52
Q6d. It is wrong to use embryonic stem cells in biomedical research, even if it may contribute to the development of medical treatments (R)	0.69	0.82		2.98	1.27	−0.55	0.58
Q6b. The labels of transgenic food should specify whether the food or any of its ingredients is genetically modified	0.37		0.61	4.62	0.80	69.83	<0.001
Q6e. Each of us is capable of determining our intake of transgenic foods	0.63		0.79	3.01	1.22	0.33	0.74
Eigenvalue		1.33	1.02
% of variance		33.30	25.43
Cronbach’s alpha		0.48	0.03
	M	3.00	2.19
	SD	1.02	0.74
	t(1195)	−0.04	−37.88
	p	0.97	<0.001

EFA - exploratory factor analysis. Coefficients below 0.30 were suppressed. KMO = 0.49. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity: χ ²(6) = 142.99, p < 0.001. h ² - communality coefficient. M - Mean. SD - Standard Deviation. R - reversely coded item.