Development and validation of multi-dimensional scale to measure farmers’ decision-making in operating agroecosystems

Informed decision-making by the farmers is crucial for the sustainability, productivity, and profitability of their farms. The study conducted during 2023–24, aimed to develop a scale for assessing farmers’ decision-making in agriculture. The construction of the decision-making scale began with item analysis, using the Likert’s technique. The study identified five dimensions: decision initiated, decision processed, decision analyzed, decision designed, and decision executed. After identifying five dimensions and 58 statements, the judges’ opinions were used to evaluate the relevancy of the statements, leading to the selection of 46 statements. Subsequently, a questionnaire comprising 46 statements was administered to 60 farmers in the non-sampling area. After collecting the data, the t-value was calculated, and the cutoff value for statement selection was set at ≥ 1.75. Afterward, the 35 statements with a t-value equal to or exceeding 2.244 were incorporated into the final scale. The reliability of the scale was tested using the internal consistency test, test-retest and split-half method; and the reliability coefficients [coefficient of consistency (C_α), coefficient of stability (r), and coefficient of equivalence (r_bb)] were 0.835, 0.817, and 0.852, respectively. Using the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula, the whole test’s reliability coefficient (r_sb) was calculated to be 0.920. Therefore, it was found that the scale was reliable. The content validity of the scale was confirmed with expert opinions. Its validity was further verified with the statistical validity (v) which was 0.959. The developed scale finally consisted of 5 dimensions and 35 statements which were reliable and could produce consistent results while assessing the farmers’ decision-making.