Development and validation of a measure of social well-being during doctoral studies: The sense of scientific community scale

Abstract

Several qualitative studies suggest that the sense of belonging to the scientific community is critical to the success of the doctoral journey. Although a few tools have been developed to capture some components of the sense of scientific community, no instrument is available to measure this construct in its entirety. The purpose of this study was to develop the Sense of Scientific Community Scale (SSCS) and to examine its psychometric qualities using a sample of 318 doctoral students in Canada. Five indicators of construct validity (exploratory, confirmatory, discriminant, predictive, and concurrent) and three indicators of reliability (internal consistency, test-retest and temporal stability) of the SCSS were examined. In sum, this scale comprises 18 items divided into three factors (perception of belonging, influencing, and benefiting from support) providing good internal consistency indices. The psychometric qualities of the SCSS justify its use in future studies.