The Work Environment Scale and the Ward Atmosphere Scale (short forms): psychometric data.

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• The Work Environment Scale (WES) and Ward Atmosphere Scale (WAS) are established instruments for assessing workplace and healthcare environments, respectively.
• Previous research has validated the reliability of the unabridged forms of these scales.
• The development of short forms aims to enhance practicality and efficiency in scale administration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the alpha coefficients of internal consistency for the short forms of the WES and WAS.
• To evaluate the reliability of the major dimensions and subscales of these short forms.
• To compare the reliability of the short forms with the unabridged versions.

Main Methods:

• Calculation of Cronbach's alpha coefficients for all short forms, their dimensions, and subscales.
• Statistical analysis of internal consistency indices.
• Comparison of reliability coefficients between short and unabridged scale forms.

Main Results:

• Alpha coefficients generally indicate adequate internal consistency for most short forms of the WES and WAS.
• Reliability of the short forms aligns with that previously reported for the unabridged forms, with a few exceptions.
• Identified exceptions in reliability are potentially due to sampling error or a limited number of items (4) per factor.

Conclusions:

• The short forms of the Work Environment Scale and Ward Atmosphere Scale generally exhibit adequate reliability.
• The findings support the use of these short forms as reliable measures in relevant research and practice.
• Further reliability testing is advised for specific subscales where consistency was lower.