Factor Analysis of a Questionnaire used for Developing an Operational Philosophy for Habilitation Facilities

In order to assist Activity Therapy Centre staff examine their attitudes towards current habilitataion practices, and, to the principles of normalization, a questionnaire seeking this information was devised as a preliminary exercise to a workshop held to discuss and develop an operational philosophy for individual centres. This paper describes the questionnaire and examines its factor structure. A series of Alpha Factor Analyses suggested that the questionnaire is characterized by two factors. Fifteen of the eighteen value statements covered by the questionnaire load on the first factor, accounting for seventy percent of the common variance, on average. This factor seems to be a general habituation factor. The remaining three areas form a second factor, accounting for fourteen percent of the common variance, on average. This second factor is a nonhabilitation factor, but remains important for the formulation of an operational philosophy.