The Development and Validation of the Student Communication Satisfaction Scale

Four studies (N = 639) were conducted to develop and validate a global measure of student communication satisfaction with an instructor. In study one, participants were 155 students who reported on an instructor from their smallest class during the semester. Participants completed the Student Communication Satisfaction Scale (SCSS), the Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory, and the Conversational Appropriateness Scale. Results indicated that the SCSS is unidimensional, has initial concurrent validity, and is internally reliable. In study two, participants were 161 students who completed the SCSS, Attributional Confidence Scale, Revised Affective Learning Measure, and Student Motives for Communicating Scale in an attempt to establish additional concurrent validity. The SCSS was correlated positively with attributional confidence for the instructor, affect for the course and instructor, and the relational, functional, participatory, and sycophancy motives, while excuse-making was correlated negatively with communication satisfaction. Additionally, results of a confirmatory factor analysis yielded a single-factor solution. In study three, a confirmatory factor analysis of the scale using another sample (N = 165) yielded a single-factor solution. In study four (N = 158), discriminant validity was established as the SCSS loaded on a separate factor than the ICSI and was correlated positively with a host of instructional outcomes, student communication behavior, and perceived instructor communication.