Evidence for the Reliability and Factorial Validity of the Computer Game Attitude Scale

Abstract

The Computer Game Attitude Scale (CGAS) evaluates student attitudes toward educational computer games. This study provides evidence for the reliability and factorial validity of the scores of the CGAS and its two subscales. Study participants were 186 middle school students from two large school districts in the Pacific Northwest, one urban and one suburban. The CGAS produced scores with a total test alpha coefficient of 88 for the sample. A principal components factor analysis with a two factor solution and a varimax rotation was conducted on the items of the CGAS. Two factors explained 44 percent of the total variance. The pattern of loadings in the principal components factor analysis supports the grouping implied by the two subscales, indicating that the two subscales were sufficiently stable to be used as separate scores. Data indicate that the CGAS produced reliable test scores that may aid researchers, computer game designers, and teachers in the evaluation of educational software games.