Measurement of Angler Catch-Related Attitudes: An Assessment of Model Structure and Metric Invariance

Abstract

Catch-related attitudes (CRA) are of particular interest to researchers studying the behavior of recreational anglers. This study assessed factorial structure and invariance of two measurement models of CRA using data from a statewide survey of licensed Texas anglers and a follow-up survey of catfish anglers. We determined that a 4-construct model of CRA provided better fit to the data than a 3-construct model, and was configural and metric invariant across gender, ethnic, and angling context groups. While further scale refinement is needed, our results indicate the current model provides unbiased measurement of CRA across a variety of groups and contexts.

Keywords:

• catch-related attitudes
• confirmatory factor analysis
• invariance tests
• recreational fishing

Acknowledgments

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries Division provided funding and support for this project. Additional support was provided by the Forest and Wildlife Research Center, and Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture at Mississippi State University.