Reliability Analysis of an Instrument: A Preliminary Study of Experience in Close Relationship Scale (ECR) among Counsellor Trainees in a University
Abstract
The study aims to evaluate the reliability and internal consistency of Experience in Close Relationship among counsellor trainees in one of the local universities. The questionnaire had 36 items that were tested on 58 students from Bachelor of Counselling with Honours program. The Experience in Close Relationship Scale (ECR) is used to assess attachment styles. The ECR assesses individual on two sub-scale of attachment which are attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. This study presented listed items and internal consistency reliability analysis of Experience in Close Relationship Scale (ECR) in Malaysian context. The explanation on the items and reliability analysis represents the appropriateness of the instrument to trainee counsellors from public universities. The two sub-scale showed high reliability analysis. The reliability values of two sub-scale are reported respectively as following (i) attachment anxiety α = .86; and (ii) attachment avoidance α = .93. The instrument is reliable for assessing the attachment styles towards counsellor trainees at public universities. Therefore, the results from the pilot study showed that the questionnaire can be used without any modification in the actual study.
Keywords: Reliability; Experience in Close Relationship Scale; Counsellor Trainees; Preliminary study
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