Validity and reliability testing of a digital ethics instrument among junior high school students

Abstract

Digital ethics is an important aspect of the behavior of junior high school students when interacting and communicating through digital technologies. Therefore, a valid and reliable instrument is needed to measure students’ digital ethics. This study aimed to examine the empirical validity and reliability of a digital ethics instrument for junior high school students. The instrument measures four dimensions of digital ethics, namely digital etiquette, digital communication, digital law, and digital rights and responsibilities. The instrument was initially developed with 40 items, then revised based on expert feedback to 30 items, and subsequently reduced to 28 items for empirical testing. The final 28-item instrument was administered to 32 ninth-grade junior high school students who were purposively selected based on characteristics comparable to those of the target population. Empirical validity was analyzed using the Corrected Item-Total Correlation, while internal consistency reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha. The results showed that all 28 items met the validity criteria, with Corrected Item-Total Correlation coefficients ranging from 0.774 to 0.913, which were higher than the r-table value of 0.349. The reliability analysis yielded a Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of 0.988, indicating very high internal consistency. These findings provide initial empirical evidence that the 28-item digital ethics instrument demonstrates adequate item validity and high internal consistency for measuring digital ethics among junior high school students. The instrument can be used by teachers and guidance and counseling practitioners to identify students’ digital ethics and support the planning of educational and guidance services related to responsible digital behavior. Further research involving larger and more diverse samples, along with construct validity analysis, is recommended to strengthen the evidence regarding the quality of the instrument.