Bioplastic Awareness Scale for University Students (BASUS): Scale Development Study

Bioplastics are polymers that are biodegradable even under unsuitable post-use conditions and are mostly produced from renewable resources. The main aim of this research is to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure bioplastic awareness. A quantitative research approach was adopted and a survey model was utilized within this scope. Convenient sampling was preferred in determining the participants. Validity and reliability analyses of the scale were conducted on a sample (n=261) of university students studying at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year levels. In the result of preparing open-ended questions and reviewing the relevant literature, a pool of 34 items was created. As a result of the content validity study conducted in line with the opinions of field experts, three items were removed and a draft scale of 31 items was obtained. In the results of exploratory factor analysis, four more items were eliminated and a two-factor structure was determined. The Bioplastic Awareness Scale (BIAAS) consists of a total of 27 items, 17 of which are in the first sub-dimension and 10 of which in the second sub-dimension. The first sub-dimension was named “environmental awareness,” and the second sub-dimension was named “reasons for using bioplastics.” The total variance explained by the two-factor structure was 42.768%, with which 23.591% were explained by the first factor and 19.177% by the second factor. The factor loadings of the items in the first sub-dimension ranged from 0.45 to 0.66, whereas the factor loadings of the items in the second sub-dimension ranged from 0.52 to 0.77. as a result of confirmatory factor analysis, RMSEA = 0.077 and SRMR = 0.066 values are gathered. The Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient for the overall scale was calculated as 0.92.