Construction and validation of a psychometric scale to assess extension agents’ beliefs about extension and innovation

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This article aims at designing and validating a psychometric scale to assess extensionists’ and advisors’ beliefs about extension and innovation.

Design/Methodology/approach

The scale was developed by drawing upon results from a previous empirical research as well as insights from a literature review on extension and innovation approaches. The theoretical framework used to write the items was validated by 12 international experts from 11 countries. 608 Argentine extension workers completed the questionnaire. Replies were analysed using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

Findings

The scale has a good fit and satisfactory level of internal consistency. Five factors were identified: Dialogue and horizontal coordination; Transfer of technology; Blame on farmers; Participatory, farmer-led extension; and Self-critical attitude.

Practical implications

The scale has multiple and different uses, including research, theory development, institutional practice, diagnosis, and teaching.

Theoretical implications

Results show that a horizontal, facilitative extension approach shares a common epistemology, as well as underlying values and assumptions, with territorial development and with an innovation systems perspective, and that both contrast with a traditional transfer of technology approach. Nonetheless, practitioners would not tend to see these two contrasting perspectives as contradictory but as complementary.

Originality/Value

The scale is the first validated psychometric instrument, based on an ample theoretical framework, that allows for a quantitative assessment of beliefs about extension and innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Extension approach
• innovation
• advisory services
• psychometric scale
• underlying beliefs
• transfer of technology
• agricultural innovation systems

Acknowledgments

The authors thanks the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) and the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (Argentina) for supporting this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Fernando Landini holds a master's degree in Rural Development and has a Ph.D. in Psychology. He serves as associate professor in the University of La Cuenca del Plata in the area of psychology and is Senior Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (Argentina). His main area of intereset is rural extension, innovation and psychosocial processes.

Maite Beramendi has a Ph.D. in Psychology. She serves as assistant professor in the School of Psychology of the University of Buenos Aires. She studies social norms and is an expert in quantitative research methodologies.

ORCID

Fernando Landini http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5322-2921

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of La Cuenca del Plata (Argentina) under Grant Res. 350/16.