Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Human Resource Education and Workforce Development

First Advisor

Elwood F. Holton, III

Abstract

The Learning Transfer Questionnaire (LTQ) was developed as a comprehensive instrument to identify potential factors in the work environment that influence learning transfer (Holton & Bates, 1996). The purpose of the study was to examine the construct validity of the LTQ by focusing on convergent and divergent validity. Specific objectives included: to identify a set of theoretically-based, psychometrically-valid measures which could be used the examine the convergent and divergent validity; and, utilizing correlation analysis, to examine the associations between the 16 LTQ factors and the identified measures. Scales from seventeen measurement instruments were utilized as comparison measures to correlate with 14 of the 16 LTQ factors. Because many studies on transfer research have not used psychometrically valid measurements, two sets of criteria were utilized to identify appropriate measures. The first set of criteria included elements of relatedness, purpose, and appropriateness. Then, psychometric quality of the instruments was assessed using Robinson, Shaver & Wrightman's (1991) criteria. Utilizing this criteria, 14 of the measures received the second highest rating, extensive; two of the instruments were in the third category, moderate, although on the high side; and one of the instruments used in this study was in the low moderate range. Two hundred four training participants from the United States Postal Service were administered the LTQ and the comparison measures. The PANAS (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was used to control for possible mood shift between the beginning and end of the training session. The results of the correlation analysis in this study suggested divergent validity for the LTQ The LTQ consists of 11 training specific factors (nine were used in this study) and five general factors. This study suggested degrees of divergence for all training specific factors. Only two of the ten comparison measures identified for the general factors suggested low to moderate degrees of convergent validity. While the LTQ factors exhibited some association with many measures, almost all were of low magnitude. It appears that the LTQ measures largely unique learning transfer constructs with numerous opportunities to enhance transfer research and practice. Suggestions for additional validation studies are offered.

ISBN

9780599635920

Pages

264

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.7068

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