In:
Educational and Psychological Measurement, SAGE Publications, Vol. 65, No. 3 ( 2005-06), p. 465-481
Abstract:
Classical factor analysis assumes independent and identically distributed observations. Educational data, however, are often hierarchically structured, with, for example, students being nested within classes. In this study, data on self-esteem gathered in a sample of 1,107 students within 72 school classes in Switzerland were analyzed using two-level confirmatory factor analysis. Considering a sequence of two-level confirmatory factor models, the results indicate that a one-factor model of self-esteem with an additional orthogonal method or response-style factor of negatively worded items adequately described within-class (individual) differences in self-esteem. By contrast, at the between-class level, a general factor of self-esteem was sufficient to capture school class differences in self-esteem. Thus, apart from other influences, for students, the social context (school class) seems to matter in forming their self-esteem. At the same time, the findings imply that studies examining self-esteem using samples of clustered observations should account for multiple levels of analysis (i.e., separate within- and between-class variances).
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0013-1644
,
1552-3888
DOI:
10.1177/0013164404272487
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2005
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1500101-5
detail.hit.zdb_id:
206630-0
SSG:
5,2
SSG:
5,3
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