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Keywords

cell phone use, television use, validity, reliability, measurement of attitudes toward technology use

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of attitudes toward technology in marital relationships, the Assessment of Attitudes Toward Technology in Relationships (AATTR), and to determine its reliability and validity. Specifically, we assessed the attitudes, either positive or negative, of both cell phone usage for interspousal communication and attitudes of television viewing in the home as a means of spending time together. We recruited participants via convenience sampling, distributed an anonymous survey on Facebook and Brigham Young University’s Learning Suite (a site created by the school to facilitate course organization and teacher-student interactions), and had 154 participants complete the questionnaire. To select the questions for the survey, 30 questions were compared in a Content Validity Ratio analysis, and the 10 highest-scoring questions were selected for the questionnaire, because these questions had the highest likelihood to produce reliable and valid results. In examining the AATTR, a statistical analysis showed that the AATTR was neither reliable nor valid. Cronbach’s alpha revealed poor internal consistency (α = .54). Pearson’s bivariate analysis indicated a weak linear relationship between test items. Face validity was also poor: only 3.9% of the participants correctly identified the construct or purpose of the survey. The analyses indicate that the AATTR is not ready for real-world application at this time. Further revisions and research are needed to create a reliable and valid measure.

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