Psychometrics of Goal Type Scale (GTS)

Ms. Meenakshi, Assistant Professor, IGIPESS, Delhi UniversityDr. Lalit Sharma, Associate Professor, IGIPESS, Delhi University

Mr. Dharmender Kumar, Assistant Professor, IGIPESS, Delhi University

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to test the psychometrics of the types of goal

scale which was developed in three phases. In the first phase focus group were

conducted with 6 elite sportspersons and discussed with 15 experts for item

selection and content relevance. The second phase set out to identify latent factors

in which 312 athletes were involved. The aim of third phase was to test the

psychometrics by focusing on internal consistency of the items of identified factors

of the types of goal. The results of an exploratory factor analysis provided a two-

factor solution that accounted for 53.70 % of the overall variance (a) time bound

goals (short-term, long-term & combined short-term and long-term goals) (3 items)

(b) mixed combination of goals (process, performance & outcome goals) (3 items).

Results from third phase supported the internal consistency of the scale and

subscales of the types of goal.

Key words: Goal, Motivation, Factors

Introduction

Researchers in sports psychology have consistently shown that goal setting is an effective technique to

enhance performance of the athletes. In fact, Singer, R, Hausenblas, H, & Janelle, C, 2001, cited in

Peak Sporting Excellence Performance in their recent meta-analysis showed that goal-setting led to

performance enhancement in 78% of sport and exercise research studies, with moderate to strong

effects.

Now the question arises that how many types of goal an athlete may set to enhance his/her performance.

According to McClements (1982, cited by Frankl, 2012) there are two types of goals, subjective goals

and objective goals. Subjective goals are not specific; they are typically general goals with no real

means to quantify success and therefore are not used in sport psychology quantitative interventions.

Objective goals are based on more quantifiable measures. Objective goals can also be divided into three

different categories: outcome goals, performance goals, and process goals (Burton, Naylor, & Holliday,

2001; Hardy et al., 1996). Outcome goals typically focus on achieving a certain result in a competition.

An outcome goal can be focused on achieving success, but can also be focused on avoiding failure.

Athletes who make outcome goals sometimes want to do only well enough to succeed. They are often

afraid to make errors, which hampers future learning and ultimately affects their ability to reach their

greatest potential. Examples of outcome goals are to win the championship, to play in the starting

lineup, or to beat a specific opponent.

Performance goals focus on improvement within an individual, such as setting a personal best time for

a race, to meet the qualifying time for a league or national meet at the next competition are the

examples of performance goal. Performance goals are directed toward achieving individual skills or

behaviors. Instead of emphasizing the outcome, individuals emphasize the process by which a given

outcome is achieved. Performance goals often make the most effective type of goals because it involves

learning at the risk of making mistakes, it improves problem-solving, and it encourages the athlete to

work harder. Performance goals are also more easily controlled by the athlete. Performance goals in

some areas are difficult to devise. Boxers, for example, have more difficulty devising performance

goals than do gymnasts, but even with boxers, they should set meaningful performance goals.

Other examples of performance goals would include practicing with the tennis ball machine a certain

number of days in order to improve forehand volley, working out a set number of days per week in

order to increase strength, or practicing imagery and visualization two times per week in order to up

mental toughness (moneyinstructor.com).

Process goals focus on the skills, actions and techniques that are used to achieve a performance, such as

maintaining perfect form for a diving competition. A sprinter who has a tendency to become overly

concerned with the position of his/her competitors during the final 20m of races might set a process

goal of focusing on a point beyond the finish line to ensure focus is retained until the line has been

crossed. A swimmer may set a goal of maintaining a long, stretched- out arm pull in his freestyle stroke

or a basketball player may set a goal of squaring up to the basket and releasing the ball at the peak of

his jump. (08ma).

These goals can be vary in the time frame. Time goals have three different levels, each serving as a

means to improve performance in the general as well as smaller timeframes. These three levels are

known as short-term goals, mid-range goals, and long-term goals.

As above literature has shown that there are various types of goal in the goal setting to improve

performance. Until recently, however no attempts have been made to develop an instrument which can

measure what types of goal an athlete use to improve his/her performance. Therefore the purpose of the

study was to develop a psychometrics of goal type scale which can measure the types of goal used by

athletes.

Method

The scale was developed in three different phases:

Phase – I

The purpose of the phase-I was to construct the scale designed to assess types of goal used by athletes

to improve their performance. Initially two sub-variables time bound goal and mixed combination of

goals (process, performance & outcome goals) were identified pertaining to types of goal through

extensive study of previous work, literature, journals, websites and other secondary sources. 8 items

were newly crafted and targeted to measure the frequency and nature of goals which are used for the

improvement of the performance of the athletes. First 6 members’ group consisted of sports persons

who served as athletes in national tournaments and trainers were invited for a focus group discussion.

12 experts were consulted who experienced in the sports psychology, research and sports training and

had experience in questionnaire or scale development. The selected items were given to individual

experts along with study objectives. The suggestions received from individual experts were recorded

and placed collectively for further discussion. On the basis of the received suggestions a consensus was

made about inclusion, rejection or revision of each item of the types of goal. Thus, the initial version of

goal type scale consisted of 8 items with 7 point Likert type format. After that an initial try out was

conducted on 50 subjects (who were pursuing B.P.Ed course from Delhi university and represented

themselves at collegiate level) to understand the applicability of the test in terms of understanding of the

statements, misinterpretation of statements, administrative difficulties. The test was administered on the

selected sportsmen who were representative of the samples for whom the test was validated, but the

samples did not make into the final samples. The initial try out helped in identification of the Jargons

which were confusing were removed, Language was simplified for better understanding.

After incorporating all the received suggestions the final scale was comprised of 6 items after the

approval of the supervisor and members of research support committee. The second tryout was done on

the 30 subjects who were other than subjects selected for the first trial. On the basis of second trial run

Final drafting was done of the scale.

Phase –II

The purpose of the second phase was to identify the underlying dimensions of the instrument.

Participants

A total of 350 sportspersons, from the colleges of Delhi University, who voluntarily took part, were

distributed the scale out of which 312 correctly filled it and were considered for the study. The both

male and female were selected as subjects for the study. The age of the subjects were ranged from 17

years and above.

Administration of the Test

Athletes from the different colleges of Delhi and sports clubs were recruited for the present study. They

were asked to voluntarily participate in the study. They were informed regarding the purpose of the

study and short instructions were given regarding the procedure of filling the goal setting scale. They

were assured about the confidentiality of the responses. Consent form to fill the scale was signed by the

each athlete. Upon completion of the administration, the investigators or research assistant debriefed

interested athletes concerning the nature of the study and answered any of athletes’ questions with

regard to the study.

Demographics

The demographic details of the subjects were also obtained on age, gender, specialized sports, types of

sports, highest sports achievement in which they primarily participated, goal setting experience.

Scoring

All the sections of goal setting scale were rated on 7-point Likert scale from very true of me (7) to very

untrue of me (1). Few types of goal scale items had reverse scoring from very true of me (1) to very

untrue of me (7).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Exploratory Factor analysis was used to extract factors influencing athletes’ attitude towards types of

goal. To determine the adequacy of extraction and number of factors, the following criteria were used:

(a) eigenvalues greater than 1.0, (b) percentage of variance accounted for by each factor, (c) cumulative

percentage of variance accounted for by the derived factors, and (d) interpretability of the factors. Initial

internal consistency reliabilities and inter-factor correlations were calculated as well, and item analysis

was undertaken to eliminate any unnecessary items, items were selected for factors if rotated

component were greater than .30, and no cross –loadings were greater than .25. For establishing

reliability, Alpha coefficient to test inter-item correlation was employed.

Results

The date was analyzed by computing various statistics. The findings of the study have been shown in

the following tables.

Data Screening

Descriptive Statistics of the Items for Goal Types Scale Types N Mean Std. Deviation Skewness Kurtosis

of goal Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Std. Error

ITEM 1 312 4.86 1.77 -.621 .138 -.600 .275

ITEM 2 312 5.01 1.68 -.692 .138 -.465 .275

ITEM 3 312 5.80 1.43 -1.569 .138 2.093 .275

ITEM 4 312 5.75 1.46 -1.245 .138 1.001 .275

ITEM_5 312 5.62 1.50 -1.184 .138 .976 .275

ITEM_6 312 4.79 1.74 -.628 .138 -.503 .275

Valid N (listwise) 312

Table reveals the descriptive statistics for the items of types of goal. Items showed that athletes

hardly formulate long term goals (M= 4.86, SD = 1.77), long term goals that can be further

broken into short term goals (M= 5.01, SD = 1.68), and short term goals (M = 4.79, SD =

1.74), whereas improving a particular skill/technique/fitness (M = 5.80, SD = 1.43) and

winning a particular competition/tournament are goals of athletes (M= 5.75, SD = 1.46), they

use goals for self-improvement such as setting a personal best time (M= 5.62, SD = 1.50).

Table also reveals that the value of skewness of types of goal items are ranged from .621 to

1.569 (mean item skewness = .989). The value of kurtosis of the types of goal items are ranged

from -.465 to 2.093 (mean item kurtosis = .939) which are less than the cutoff point 3 for

skewness and 3 for kurtosis. Therefore it may be concluded that items of types of goal are

normally distributed. EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS

Six items of types of goal were analyzed by the factor analysis and results have been reported

from table 1 to 3.

Table 1: Correlation Matrix of Items for Goal Types Scale

ITEM 1 ITEM 2 ITEM 3 ITEM 4 ITEM 5 ITEM 6

Correlation ITEM 1 1.000 .330 .145 .167 .282 .173

ITEM 2 .330 1.000 .093 .186 .227 .270

ITEM 3 .145 .093 1.000 .360 .203 .121

ITEM 4 .167 .186 .360 1.000 .328 .097

ITEM 5 .282 .227 .203 .328 1.000 .327

ITEM 6 .173 .270 .121 .097 .327 1.000

Sig. (1-tailed) ITEM 1 .000 .005 .002 .000 .001

ITEM 2 .000 .051 .000 .000 .000

ITEM 3 .005 .051 .000 .000 .017

ITEM 4 .002 .000 .000 .000 .043

ITEM 5 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

ITEM 6 .001 .000 .017 .043 .000

a. Determinant = .512

Table represents the determinant value which has listed at the bottom of the matrix is .512 for

these data which is greater than the necessary value of 0.00001 as suggested by Field (2005).

All items of types of goal correlate fairly well and none of the correlation coefficients are

particularly large, therefore, there is no need to consider eliminating any item at this stage.

Table 2: KMO and Bartlett's Test on Items for Goal Types Scale

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .675

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Approx. Chi-Square 206.584

df 15

Sig. .000Table shows that the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy is mediocre (.675).

The Bartlett’s test of sphericity is 206.584 which is highly significant (p<.00001, df =15).

Therefore, it may be concluded that factor analysis is appropriate for this data.

Table 3: Exploratory Factor Analysis: Factor Loading, Communalities, Eigenvalues,

Percentage of Explained Variance of the Items for Goal Types ScaleFactors loadings

Items Factor 1 Factor 2 CommunalitiesITEM 2 .73 .53ITEM 6 .67 .45

ITEM 1.65

.44

ITEM 5 .42 .49ITEM 3 .81 .65ITEM 4 .80 .66Eigen values 2.116

1.104

% explained variance 28.96224.707

Table shows the six items describing how often athlete set various types of goal are factor analyzed.

The communalities after extraction are ranged from .44 to 66. A two-factor solution emerged that

accounted for 53.70 % of the total variance in 6 retained items. The first factor contains 3 items and

loadings are ranged from .65 to .73 whereas the second factor contains 3 items with their loadings are

ranged from .42 to .81.

Items load highly on first factor seems to all relate to timing of goals. Therefore we label this factor

time bound goals. The items that load highly on second factor all seem to relate to process, performance

and outcome goals, therefore we label this factor as mixed combination of goals.Phase –III

Additionally, internal consistency was examined in this phase.

Table: 4 Internal Consistency of Goal Type Scale/Subscales

Scale/Subscale Cronbach alpha

Types of Goal .74

Time bound goals .78

Mixed combination of goals .79

Table 4 reveals the internal consistency reliability is .78 for the three-item time bound goal and for

Mixed combination of goals is .79 which higher than the acceptable value of .6 . The cronbach alpha

values indicated that there is internal consistency reliability in the subscales of goal type.

Discussion of Findings

Studies have shown that athletes using goal setting intervention to enhance performance and find

positive change in the psychological states like self-confidence, anxiety, motivation and self-efficacy.

However goal setting is an easy concept but it requires more thought and proper planning to make it

effective. The purpose of the study was to develop a scale to measure that what type of goal an athlete

sets to enhance performance. The study was conducted in three phases. The results produced by first

exploratory factor analysis of the initial 6 items of the goal type scale has extracted two-factor solution.

First factor presents that athletes set short-term goals -weekly and seasonal goals as well as long term

goals to increase performance at higher level as supported by the findings of Jeff, 2000, Kyllo &

Landers, 1995, Locke & Latham, 1995. The second factor presents that athletes set mixed combination

of goals (process, performance & outcome goals) to achieve greatest improvement in the performance

supported by Filby, Maynard, & Grayd, 1999. The internal consistency of the scale and subscales was

supported by the reliability analysis and have revealed good internal consistency.

Two additional measurement models provided further examination of the factorial validity of the scale

to measure types of goal. According to the model, all items loaded on two factors, suggesting the uni-

dimensionality of goal setting. However, the results of the measurement model, indicating that all items

do not represent the same construct.

Conclusions

Exploratory factor analysis identified two-factor solution for the types of goal that accounted for 53.70

% of the overall variance (a) time bound goals (short-term, long-term & combined short-term and long-

term goals) (b) Mixed combination of goals (process, performance & outcome goals).

Results from third phase supported the internal consistency of the scale and subscales of the types of

goal.

Research Implications

The development of the scale will be of immense importance to the sports persons as it can serve as an

essential tool for measuring goal setting pattern of an athlete sets for his/her performance. As the

literature suggests that the combination of goals are better than setting any single type of goal.

Therefore the scale would help us to choose an appropriate goal setting intervention for an athlete. The

scale may be extremely useful to set appropriate goals depending upon the level of the sports person

performance by the coaches or trainers. Furthermore the goal setting scale may help the sports persons

not only to evaluate their own self, but also equip themselves to understand the importance of goal

setting required for excellence. The scale constructed may be based on Indian population especially the

sports person and hence will be an important psychological instrument in Indian context.

Future research

Confirmatory Factor Analysis will be used to support the factor model as defined by EFA.

Norms will be developed by using Descriptive Analysis.

Two-factor model of Goal Type scale (GTS) will be confirmed by using discriminant analysis for gender.

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Frankl, D. (2012). Retrieved December 21, 2011, from http://www.kidsfirstsoccer.com/setgoalsx.htm

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