Development of Communication Skills Evaluation Scale and Examination of Its Reliability and Validity

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to develop a scale to evaluate communication skills, including counseling skills. First, a total of 60 items related to skill evaluation were extracted from studies on counseling and communication skills. Then, in order to extract items related to nursing students from these 60 items, items with low discriminability were eliminated, and based on content validity, some items were eliminated or modified. Consequently, a total of 30 items were extracted for evaluating communication skills. Second, items related to nursing students were identified from the 30 items. The results were as follows : (1) Five items with a correlation coefficient of less than 0.5 were eliminated, and a statistical analysis was performed using the other 25 items. (2) The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.94, and as a result, reliability was ensured. (3) A good-poor analysis confirmed the internal consistency of the items. (4) A factor analysis confirmed construct validity and internal consistency. Hence, we obtained a 25-item scale for evaluating communication skills.