Construct and validate of personal epistemology questionnaire in children

The purpose of this study was construct and validate a questionnaire to measure personal epistemology in children. Accordingly, the 44 question with Likert scoring method was designed to have three options. Face and content validity was assessed through the survey of 10 experts and its reliability, through the implementation of 50 students to retest interval of one month, was calculated 0/72. Then, the questionnaire was administered on 472 students (217 males and 255 females) and using factor analysis with varimax rotation method revealed five factors with higher eigenvalues: simple knowledge, certain knowledge, source of knowledge, product of knowing and justification of knowing. In order to determine validity and reliability of the scale respectively, confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha coefficients were used. Results of Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the proposed five-factor structure. Also, the total score for internal consistency through Cronbach’s alpha, was 0/85. According to the results, the scale has acceptable reliability and validity and can be used as an applicable instrument in assessing personal epistemology in children.