Application 2: Validating a Measuring Instrument

Abstract

Our second application tests hypotheses related to the Self Description Questionnaire III (SDQIII; Marsh & O’Neill, 1984), an instrument designed to measure 13 facets of SC: one general SC, three academic SCs (English, mathematics, and general school), and nine nonacademic SCs (physical ability, physical appearance, social (same sex), social (opposite sex), parent relations, emotional stability, problem solving/creative thinking, religion/spirituality, and honesty/reliability). Of relevance to the present application is the factorial validity of the general and academic SC subscales for males only; tests of hypotheses related to factorial invariance will be addressed in Section III. (For details of the study related to this application, see Byrne, 1988b.)