Development and initial validation of perceived research environment scale for higher education academics

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the perceived research environment for higher education academics. As there is no existing, psychometrically sound scale that directly measures perceived research environment for higher education academics, we designed and validated the Perceived Research Environment Scale for use with this population. In Phase 1, items were developed based on a review of literature, six focus groups, and expert judgment. In Phase 2, the items were then administered to a sample of Indonesian academics (N = 306, M age = 42.29 years). Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were used to reduce the number of items and determine the factor structure. In Phase 3, confirmatory factor analyses were used on a hold-out sample (N = 292, M age = 43.39) to confirm this structure. In Phase 4, we provided evidence for construct validity. The practical uses of this newly developed scale are discussed. Keywords perceived research environment, scale development, academics, university, higher education