Development and standardization of knowledge test on value addition of milk

Keeping in view the entrepreneurial importance of value addition of milk in enhancing the socio-economic status of farm women, a number of training programmes had been organised by Livestock Products Technology division of Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, R.S. Pura, SKUAST-Jammu in different blocks of Jammu district under DST (GoI) funded project, therefore, a study was conducted to assess the impacts of trainings to farm women on value addition of milk. As the knowledge gained plays a vital in role in ascertaining the level of adoption of any technique or technology, therefore, a tool in the form of knowledge test was developed and standardized for measuring the knowledge of farm women regarding value addition of milk. A total of 51statements were collected in the form of open-ended and multiple choice questions which were served to 30 dairy farm women of village Nandpura in the non sample area (Samba district) in sub tropics of Jammu region for their response. The data were collected in the month of October-November 2019. Data were analyzed for calculating difficulty and discrimination index and 30 statements falling between the difficulty index of 30 to 80 and discrimination index of 0.30 to 0.55 were selected for calculating reliability and validity. Split-half reliability was calculated using Spearman Brown Prophecy Formula and was found to be 0.93. Internal consistency of the knowledge test was calculated using Cronbach's alpha (α) and the value was calculated to be 0.83 and was significant (p<0.05). The validity of knowledge test was established through content validity. The final knowledge test containing 30 statements related to four different varieties of value addition of milk such as milk cake, paneer, cheese and kaladi were standardized. This test is suitable for assessing the knowledge level of the farm women engaged in value addition of milk such as milk cake, paneer, cheese and kaladi. Therefore, a suitable intervention can be made for enhancing the knowledge level of farm women on value addition of milk through further training and capacity building programmes.