Reliability and Factor Structure of Social Paradigm Belief Inventory

This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and reliability of the Social Paradigm Belief Inventory (SPBI). A total of 381 students of Hakim Sabzevari University were selected by stratified cluster random sampling method and responded to SPBI in 2016. This research is descriptive with a validation method. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to investigate factor structure of the instrument, and Cronbach α and test-retest method were employed for examining the reliability. Results of principal component with varimax rotation showed that 4-actorial and 6-factorial solutions explained 30% and 38% of whole variance, respectively. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 6-factorial solution was a better indication of the data than 4-factorial solutions and it better fits the data in Iran society. The Cronbach α value of the instrument was 0.7 and as for the subscales of the instrument, it varied from 0.54 to 0.71 and the correlation coefficient of test-retest was 0.72 that showed acceptable reliability for the instrument. Enjoying an acceptable reliability and fitting well with the data in Iran society make the 6-factor SPBI a suitable measure for determining adults’ cognitive development for screening or clinical purposes.