The Reliability and Validity of the Scale of Professional Problems Perception: A Research on Social Worker

Abstract

This study sought to develop a Likert type scale which is valid and reliable in order to investigate the professional problems of social workers. The research was carried out with 98 social workers, emypoled in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Eskisehir, Trabzon, Samsun, Diyarbakir, Konya, Karaman, Kayseri, Aydin, Hatay, Elazig, Yozgat, Corum, Amasya, Yalova, Kutahya, Duzce, Bolu, Karabuk, Tekirdag, Sakarya provinces of Turkey, in 2014. The data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of two sections, developed to determine the social workers’ professional problems. The first part contains demographic and personal information, consisting of items about the gender, age, marital status, status, managerial positions, the type of institution, provincial aspects, social work experience, branch, income level, satisfaction level of social work, income level sufficiency, future confidence perception, compatibility with the profession in terms of personal characteristics, perceptions of syndication. The second part includes 40 expressions related to professional problems of social workers on a 3-point Likert-type scale consisting of 3 choices, from 1 = Disagree to 3 = Strongly Agree. The accumulated data was analyzed with factor analysis by using SPSS. The findings of the study revealed that the scale is valid and reliable. Results of the research show that regardless of their position, duty, rank or gender, social workers all concur on the fact that the rights provided them are insufficient and they run into problems that can be categorized as ‘working conditions and social rights’, ‘working method’, ‘professional identity’, ‘professional execution conditions’, ‘employment and promotion policies’, ‘professional organization’ and ‘vocational ıntegration’.