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ERIC Number: ED292820
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1987-Nov-11
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Factor Analysis of the Omega Scale: A Scale Designed To Measure the Attitudes of College Students toward Their Own Deaths and the Disposition of Their Bodies.
Staik, Irene M.
A study was undertaken to provide a factor analysis of the Omega Scale, a 25-item, Likert-type scale developed in 1984 to assess attitudes toward death and funerals and other body disposition practices. The Omega Scale was administered to 250 students enrolled in introductory psychology classes at two higher education institutions in Alabama. Demographic data, including a statement of each subject's religiosity, were also collected from the subjects. A principal component analysis and varimax rotation analysis of the Omega Scale data yielded four meaningful factors, as follows: (1) nontraditional, secular funeral preference accounted for 17.4 percent of the variance; (2) personal funeral arrangement preference accounted for 9.1 percent of the variance; (3) traditional funeral preference accounted for 8.7 percent of the variance; and (4) preferred disposition of the body accounted for 6.0 percent of the variance. Results indicate that the Omega Scale accurately measures students' attitudes in four different areas concerning death and body disposition. Several scale items need to be revised and/or omitted. A copy of the Omega instrument is appended. (TJH)
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative; Speeches/Meeting Papers; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A