Teresa Crowe, Social Work

The goal of this study is to produce a linguistically appropriate version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale to be used with individuals whose primary communication method is American Sign Language. To achieve this goal, this study attempts to answer the following research questions: 1) Can the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale be translated into American Sign Language and achieve asymmetric linguistic equivalence with the original version?, 2) Will the back translation procedures employed in a previous study (Brauer, 1993) be adequate to achieve linguistic equivalence?, 3) Will the revised instrument have adequate internal consistency with an alpha of .80 or above?, 4) Given that the written Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale is a unitary measure, will a Principal Components Analysis of the signed scale also indicate that only one construct is being measured? The study will employ a two-fold methodology. The first part involves a translation of the written version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale using the backtranslation method. The second part of the methodology involves recruitment of 100 deaf participants to view the tape, record responses on the form, and complete two brief background questionnaires (identifying information will not be recorded). Finally, data analysis procedures will include alpha for internal consistency and a principal components analysis.