EVALUATION OF THE FACTS ON AGING QUIZ-I AND QUIZ-II

The Facts on Aging Quizzes (FAQ) I and II (Palmore, 1977, 1981) were d esigned to assess knowledge and to measure misconceptions regarding th e elderly. This study compared results on the FAQ I and II administere d to freshmen nursing students. In contrast with Palmore's (1981, 1988 ) findings, the FAQ I and II were not related (r=.04) and alpha coeffi cients were low (a=.45 and .32 respectively). However, use of theta co efficients (which make fewer stringent assumptions about items being p arallel) resulted in values of .60 and .64 respectively. The factors e merging in this study differed from Palmore's (1977, 1981, 1988) conce ptual structure and Norris, Tindale, and Matthew's (1987) factor struc ture and explained only 45% of the variance. Results from this study s uggest that while the FAQ I and II may be useful as a stimulus for dis cussion, revisions and testing need to be done if they are to be used for research purposes.