Development of the Faith Activities in the Home Scale (FAITHS)

This article reports the development of the Faith Activities In The Home Scale (FAITHS). The initial FAITHS measure was improved on and expanded by using qualitative data of two separate samples and then empirically tested on three separate samples. Study 1 comprised two samples totaling 57 highly religious families from New England and California that represented the three major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) and focused on item development. Qualitative data were used to expand the breadth of survey items and to verify that religious families participate in the activities presented in the scale. The objective of Study 2 was to examine the FAITHS's reliability and validity using three samples of college students from a Southeastern university. The FAITHS demonstrated adequate validity and reliability. In addition to introducing a needed scale, the current study illustrates the importance of using qualitative data in scale development and improvement. (Contains 1 table.)