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Abstract
This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable attitude scale to determine attitudes of university students towards serendipitous science. The study sample consisted of 435 university students, 65 of whom were pilot application and 370 were the main application, selected from a universe whose educational language was English and located in the city centers of 4 metropolises situated at different geographical regions of Turkey by using convenience sampling. Whereas the scale was made of 35 items including one control item in the first stage, its final form consisted of 20 items, excluding the control item, as a result of the pilot application and performed analyses. The control item aimed to find out the students who answered the items of the scale randomly or wrongly. It was proven that the scale had a three-factor structure by using the exploratory factor analysis. It was seen that its factor structure was maintained as a result of DFA. The scale’s reliability was checked for the entire scale and its factors by using internal consistency coefficient. The estimated Cronbach Alpha coefficient was 0.897 for the entire scale. This case was an indication that the scale was highly reliable. Considering the reliability analysis results of the scale factors, the internal consistency coefficient estimated for the disregard factor was 0.85, the internal consistency coefficient for the value factor was 0.73, and the consistency factor for the affective factor was 0.77. Based on these results, a valid and reliable scale of attitude towards serendipitous science was developed.