Turkish Adaptation Study of the Trust in Science and Scientists Scale: Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

In this study, the scale of “Instrument to Measure Trust in Science and Scientists” developed by Nadelson et al. (2014) was adapted into Turkish, and it was aimed to perform the validity and reliability studies of the scale. The original scale consists of 5 point Likert-type, single factor, and 21 items. The study was carried out with 236 pre-service teachers selected according to the convenient sampling technique. Some steps were followed in the adaptation of the scale. Content validity, construct validity, convergent and divergent validity were tested and reliability analyses were made. After the adaptation, a 2-factor structure consisting of 10 items emerged. It was accepted that the scale, in which expert opinions were consulted, is a valid and reliable measurement tool. Thus, a measurement tool that can be used in studies of trust in science and scientists has been adapted to the Turkish language and brought to the literature.