A Factor Analytic Study of the Internet Usage Scale

This study developed an Internet Usage Scale (IUS) for use with adolescent populations. The IUS is a 26-item scale that measures participants' beliefs about how their Internet usage impacts their behavior. The sample for this study consisted of 947 middle school students. An exploratory factor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of research in education (Online) Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 14 - 23
Main Authors Monetti, David M, Whatley, Mark A, Hinkle, Kerry T, Cunningham, Kerry T, Breneiser, Jennifer E, Kisling, Rhea
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Eastern Educational Research Association 2011
Subjects
Adolescent Attitudes
Bartletts Test of Sphericity
Behavior Rating Scales
Factor Analysis
Internet
Item Analysis
Mass Media Effects
Mass Media Use
Maximum Likelihood Statistics
Middle School Students
Psychometrics
Rating Scales
Test Construction
United States (Southeast)
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Summary:This study developed an Internet Usage Scale (IUS) for use with adolescent populations. The IUS is a 26-item scale that measures participants' beliefs about how their Internet usage impacts their behavior. The sample for this study consisted of 947 middle school students. An exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on the data that yielded an initial three-factor solution. However, after eliminating items that provided redundant variance, the three-factor solution was unacceptable. A two-factor solution was investigated and found to be acceptable. The first factor was termed "SELF-DETACHMENT" and accounted for 19.16% of the variance. The second factor was termed "USAGE" and accounted for 9.10% of the variance. These psychometric properties show promise for further exploration of Internet usage among adolescents.
ISSN:1083-6470