Development and Preliminary Validation of Digital Religiosity Scale

Abstract

This study aimed to design and examine preliminary psychometric properties of Digital Religiosity Scale (DRS) for measuring religious engagement in digital environment among university students in Pakistan. The research design was a mixed method, cross sectional design. The first phase was qualitative semi-structured interviews with university students to develop an initial item pool of lived experiences of digital religiosity. A survey was conducted in the second phase to 300 university students using convenience sampling technique. To investigate the underlying structure of the scale, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was carried out. Results confirmed a two factor solution of Digital Religious Engagement and Online Religious Guidance, accounting for a significant amount of variance in the data. The scale had good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values above acceptable levels. Significant positive correlations with the Religious Commitment Inventory (RCI) and negative associations with the Non-Religious/Non-Spiritual Scale (NRNS) indicated evidence of convergent and preliminary evidence of discriminant validity. Results show that digital religiosity is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that encompasses both behavioral involvement and religious interaction based on authority in digital environments. The results should, however, be viewed as exploratory and future studies should use confirmatory factor analysis to further validate the measurement model. The study provides a first validated instrument to measure religiosity in digital environments and shows how religious expression is changing in networked societies.