Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 1985-10
An Investigation of the Factor Structure of a Scale for the Measurement of Children's Attitudes Toward Handicapped Peers Within Regular Music Environments
The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure of a newly developed survey instrument for the measurement of children's attitudes toward severely handicapped (retarded) peers integrated into music school and recreational environments. An Acceptance Within Music Scale (AMS) was developed to parallel items on a general Acceptance Scale (AS) that has demonstrated validity and reliability (Meyer, 1981). Factor analysis was used to explore the structure of the AMS and to determine whether the dimensions found are similar to those dimensions being assessed by the AS (i.e., social contact willingness, actual contact-wheelchair, name calling, and deviance consequation). Both the AS and AMS were administered to 136 public school students in an elementary school specifically selected as a low-contact school. No severely or moderately retarded students were enrolled in the school. Results suggest that there are four dimensions assessed by the AMS. Based on factor-loadings and item-by-item comparisons, the factors found for the AMS were very similar to those dimensions suggested by Meyer. The most prominent factor and the factor with identical correspondence was social contact willingness.
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