ERIC Number: ED233407
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1983-May-30
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Measuring Telephone Apprehension.
Steele, Cam Monroe; Reinsch, N. L., Jr.
An instrument for measuring telephone apprehension was developed to facilitate research into hypothesized relationships between communication apprehension and telephone apprehension. A set of 92 Likert-type items was adapted from previous communication apprehension scales and administered to 81 undergraduate students in a speech communication class. The items were evaluated for reliability and 62 were eliminated. The remaining 30 items were refined and administered to 371 speech communication students. Numerical values of responses to some items were reversed so that in every case larger numbers indicated higher apprehension, and a composite score was calculated for each of 333 individuals returning data. Correlations between the composite and individual scales were examined, and the items with the lowest correlations were systematically discarded until only 20 items remained. Composite scores ranged from 20 to 83 with a mean of 40.86. Forty-one students scored more than one standard deviation unit above the mean. Twenty-five scored above 60, the midpoint of potential scores. A factor analysis was performed to further verify the unidimensional nature of the scale. The results indicated that the 20 items constituted a reliable and unidimensional scale that could be used to assess telephone apprehension. (The 20-item scale is included.) (HTH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A