Item-level and subscale-level factoring of Biggs' Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ) in a mainland Chinese sample

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Psychometrics
• Cross-cultural Psychology

Background:

• The Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ) is widely used in cross-cultural research.
• Previous studies have analyzed LPQ items within subscales, not simultaneously at the item level.
• This study addresses the lack of a comprehensive item-level factor analysis of the LPQ.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically validate the six logically constructed item groups of the LPQ.
• To compare the reliability and correlational structure of LPQ subscales with prior cross-cultural findings.
• To assess the psychometric properties of the LPQ in a Chinese student sample.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed.
• A six-factor item-level model and five subscale-level factor models were fitted.
• Data were collected from 1070 secondary school students (ages 15-18) in Guangzhou, China.

Main Results:

• The six-factor item-level model demonstrated a reasonable fit, supporting the LPQ's dimensional structure.
• However, many LPQ subscales exhibited low internal consistency reliability.
• Only two subscale-level models showed acceptable fit, with an oblique three-factor model being substantively supported.

Conclusions:

• The LPQ's subscales often lack sufficient internal consistency reliability.
• This psychometric limitation may explain disappointing results in studies using LPQ subscales as dependent measures.
• Revising existing LPQ items and adding new ones is recommended to enhance the inventory's psychometric properties.