title: The Survey of Achievement Responsibility (SOAR): reliability and validity data on an academic attribution scale.
abstract: The Survey of Achievement Responsibility (SOAR) was designed to assess students' causal attributions of success and failure in school-related situations. Unlike other measures of locus of control and attributions, the SOAR simultaneously distinguishes among three broad subject areas--math/science, language arts/social studies, and physical education--and between two possible outcomes--success and failure. Data on the psychometric characteristics of the SOAR came from two samples from each of two large school districts, one suburban and one metropolitan. A five-stage study of the psychometric qualities of this new instrument revealed: (a) Content validity is high--judges independently classified items into the attribution categories intended by the authors; (b) internal consistency reliabilities are in a range adequate for group research purposes and are comparable to the reliabilities of other measures of attributions; (c) test-retest reliabilities showed attribution profiles to be stable over a 2-month interval; (d) correlations between the SOAR scales and students' self-reports of ability in various subject areas showed differential relationships in theoretically predicted directions; and (e) correlations between the SOAR scales and achievement tests were statistically significant, though low in magnitude, consistent with reports on other instruments. Finally, use of the SOAR in a spectrum of studies has demonstrated its research utility and indicated directions for further instrument development and research.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, College of Education.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Ryckman
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Peckham
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Mizokawa
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Sprague
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D010556:Personality Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012718:Set, Psychology; D012931:Social Environment