A study with a view to developing a scale for use at the ministry of justice prison staff training centres: training satisfaction scale

Abstract

This study was conducted to develop a valid and reliable data collection tool to measure the training satisfaction level of the staff receiving training at the Prison Staff Training Centres affiliated to the Ministry of Justice. The items of the scale were prepared after scanning the relevant literature by the researchers and seeking for the opinions of the experts, and the initial application was administered to 382 staff from different fields of job specialization receiving training at the Prison Staff Training Centre. The first version of the scale which consisted of 45 items was reduced to 30 items by considering all together the exploratory factor analysis, the internal consistency coefficient, the item-total correlation test and experts’ opinions after the initial application. The final version of the scale was applied on 505 staff with different fields of job specialization receiving training at the Prison Staff Training Centre. Based on the data from this application, the study on the structural validity of the 30 items-scale was conducted via the confirmatory factor analysis for its general structure and to see whether it measures the dimensions named by the experts (Training Quality, Training Centre Opportunities). The fit indices of the model represented by two dimensions were identified as appropriate (χ2=1074.95, SD=382, RMSEA=0.06, GFI=0.88, AGFI=0.85, CFI=0.99, NNFI=0.98, NFI=0.98). The internal consistency coefficient obtained for the whole scale was determined as .96. As a result, a valid and reliable “Prison Staff Training Centre (PSTC) Training Satisfaction Scale” consisting of the sub-dimensions of Training Quality and Training Centre Facilities was achieved.