Development and standardization of a cognitive-domain knowledge instrument for wool and pelt production

Abstract

This study focuses to develop and standardize a reliable and valid knowledge test to assess farmers' knowledge regarding scientific wool and pelt production in Jammu Division. The test aims to evaluate farmers’ knowledge across key areas viz. housing, breeding, feeding, health care, government schemes, training and capacity building, marketing, ITKs and pelt production. Initially, 158 items were collected, among which 91 were selected according to standard criteria. After relevancy testing, 64 items were found to be most relevant by the experts. In item analysis, 47 items lie between the difficulty index range of 30 to 80 and discrimination index of 0.30 to 0.55. Reliability was calculated using Split-half method (0.826) and Spearman Brown Prophecy Formula (0.903). Internal consistency of the knowledge test was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha (?) and the value was calculated to be 0.88 and was significant (p<0.05). The validity of knowledge test was established through content validity. Hence, a standardized knowledge test for assessing the knowledge level was developed consisting of 47 items, which can be used by researchers and academicians to assess the knowledge of sheep rearers towards scientific wool and pelt production.