Construction and Validity of Religious Adherence Test on the Basis of the Statements of Quran and Nahjul Balaghah

The present research aims to design and build religious adherence test and assess its validity on the basis of the statements of the Holy Quran and Nahjul Balaghah. For this reason, first of all some behavioral statements were chosen and then a questionnaire study consisting of 60 questions was conducted on a sample of 682 undergraduate students from the universities of Tehran province. These students were selected through a random cluster sampling process. Allport's religious orientation test was also used to ascertain the validity of the criterion. Finally, the data were studied through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings revealed three factors (religious adherence, religious ambivalence and religious non-adherence) which enjoyed a desirable level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha equal to 816). The results of factor analysis with exploratory analysis showed 6 factors and the confirmatory analysis showed 3 factors which explain a considerable percentage of variance of the two factors. This test also showed meaningful consistency with Allport's religious orientation scale. The conclusion is that it is possible to make, on the basis of religious statements, a test of high validity with consistent factors and ample ability to measure religious behaviors.