The adaptation of perceived collective continuity scale (cultural and historical continuity) into Turkish: A validity and reliability study

Cultural and historical continuity is a subject that is discussed in many branches of science from the last periods of the Ottoman Empire to the present. However, to what extent individuals perceive cultural and historical continuity has been ignored in the domestic literature. In order to fill this gap in the literature, the research aims to adapt the perceived collective continuity scale (PCC) developed by Sani et al. (2007) to Turkish. The original form of the scale, which included twelve items, consists of two dimensions: perceived cultural continuity and perceived historical continuity. Exploratory (n=249) and confirmatory factor analyzes (n=295) were conducted on the Turkish version in order to test the validity and reliability. According to the results of the exploratory factor analysis, the total variance explained by the two-factor, 10-items Turkish scale form was found to be 72.48%. The fit indices of the first-level and second-level models related to the two-factor model in the original scale showed that the model was confirmed. In addition, the reliability values of the scale were found at a high level. These results revealed that the Turkish version of the scale shows the two-factor structure in its original form. In conclusion, the current research indicated that the Turkish form of the scale (PCC) is a valid and reliable measurement tool that measures individuals' collective continuity perceptions. It is believed that the scale (PCC) will contribute to future studies in many fields such as history education research, identity research, migration research, and social psychology by filling the gap in the domestic literature.