Tests of the Validity and Reliability of the Community Service Attitudes Scale

Community service is deeply rooted in American culture. There have been repeated calls for the necessity of evaluating these programs, especially for service-learning. The purpose of this research was to validate an easy-to-use scale that measures 10 components of students' attitudes toward community service. The sample was drawn from two populations. First, college students who participated in a national alternative break leadership conference (n = 71) were recruited. Second, college students and recent graduates enrolled at a regional university in the southeast (n = 105) were recruited from psychology courses and from the Greek system. From these samples, three groups were formed: participants who had been involved in alternative breaks, participants who were members of the Greek system, and participants who were not involved in either alternative breaks or Greek organizations. Participants were asked if they had performed volunteer experience in the last 12 months, and 94%, 95%, and 41%, respectively, of each group had volunteered. The number of students participating in service activities on campuses has been growing steadily. With the current study, the Community Service Attitudes Scale has shown to be a valid measure of attitudes toward community service.