Carbon footprint awareness scale (CFAS): validity and reliability study on university students

Abstract This study was designed with a mixed model to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to measure university students’ carbon footprint awareness. A total of 1053 university students, 454 female and 599 male, were included in the study voluntarily. To provide evidence for the scale’s validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to the measurement tool within the scope of construct validity. In the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) conducted in the first stage of the study, and the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in the second stage, scale questions consisting of 50 items (n = 500) were applied to the participants. The higher the variance from exploratory factor analysis, the stronger the scale’s factor structure. Our item loadings vary between 0.40 and 0.70. These ratios show that the items in our scale are significant. No item was removed from the scale due to the item analysis. One modification process was made. It was proven that the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, tested in line with the reliability of the measurement tool, was high. As a result of the analyzes performed, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients; For “Buildings factor” it was found as 0.783, for “Fossil Fuel Transportation and Transportation factor” it was found as 0.873, for “Oil Refinery factor” it was found as 0.857, for “Industry factor” it was found as 0.826, for “Electricity and Heat Production factor” it was found as 0.807, for “Land Use and Forestry factor” it was found as 0.790, for “Agricultural Activity factor” it was found as 0.858, for “Waste factor” it was found as 0.781, for “Other Energy Production factor” it was found as 0.864, for “Sports Organizations factor” it was found as 0.910 and for “Carbon Footprint Awareness Scale” it was found as 0.966. As a result of confirmatory factor analysis, the χ2/sd value, one of the fit indexes of the model, was determined as 2.79. Accordingly, it was determined that the χ2/sd ratio was the perfect fit for the analysis. In the second stage of the study, scale questions consisting of 50 items (n = 553) were applied to the participants. In the CFA applied to the obtained data, the value of χ2/sd, one of the fit indexes of the model, was determined as 2.75. In CFA, the Chi-Square/degrees of freedom (df) ratio being below three corresponds to a perfect fit, and below five corresponds to a moderate fit. In this direction, it was determined that the χ2/sd ratio was perfect for the analysis. RMSEA value showed a good fit at a 0.056 level. Thus, it was determined that the 50-item and 10-factor structure of the scale was confirmed as a model. In this context, it can be said that the Carbon Footprint Awareness Scale is a valid and reliable data collection tool that can measure carbon footprint awareness to create awareness and a conscious society among university students and the society in general.