Validity and Reliability of a Food Skills Questionnaire

Develop, validate, and assess reliability of a food skills questionnaire.

Phase 1: Questionnaire development categorized questions into domains (Food Selection and Planning, Food Preparation, and Food Safety and Storage). Phase 2: Content validity included expert panel quantitative and qualitative feedback. Phase 3: Face validity involved pilot testing. Phase 4: Reliability assessed test-retest and inter-item reliability.

Phase 1: The authors developed a draft questionnaire in London, Ontario, Canada.

Phase 2: Dietitians, home economists, academics, and chefs completed content validity (n = 17; 57% response rate). Phase 3: A convenience sample of students completed face validity (n = 20; 17% response rate). Phase 4: Randomly selected students completed test-retest reliability (time 1: n = 189, time 2: n = 165; 9% response rate).

Lawshe content validity ratio, Lawshe content validity index, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), and Cronbach α.

Test-retest reliability was evaluated using ICC, and inter-item reliability by Cronbach α coefficient.

In phase 2, Lawshe content validity index was 0.80 (90% expert panel consensus). In phase 3, 85% of respondents identified the main construct. In phase 4, Cronbach α coefficients were .67-.88 for domains and .90 for the questionnaire overall, and ICC scores ranged from 0.67-0.92 for questions, 0.86-0.93 for domains, and 0.92 for the questionnaire overall.

This questionnaire demonstrated strong content validity, face validity, test-retest reliability, and good inter-item reliability. It is appropriate for evaluating food skills in a population with basic to intermediate skills (eg, young adults).