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Brief Sense of Community Scale
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About Scale Name
Scale Name
Brief Sense of Community Scale
Author Details
The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSOCS) was developed by David W. McMillan and David M. Chavis in 1986. They are both community psychologists, McMillan is a professor and researcher of Community Psychology at the University of Missouri-St Louis and Chavis is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Translation Availability
The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSOCS) is available in multiple languages, including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese.
Urdu Translation
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Background/Description
The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSOCS) is a self-report measure of an individual’s sense of community. It was developed by McMillan and Chavis in 1986 as a way to assess the four basic components of a sense of community: a sense of belonging, a sense of influence, a sense of integration, and a sense of fulfillment of needs. The BSOCS is a 12-item scale that asks individuals to rate their agreement with statements such as “I feel part of this community,” “I have a say in what goes on in this community,” “I feel like I’m part of a group of people in this community,” and “My needs are met by this community.” The scale is designed to be used in a specific context, such as a neighborhood, school, or workplace, and can be used to assess an individual’s sense of community in that context.
The BSOCS has been widely used in community psychology and other related fields to measure community attachment. It has been used in various settings, including schools, universities, workplaces, residential areas and so on. The BSOCS has demonstrated good reliability and validity in many studies. However, it is important to note that while the scale has been translated into multiple languages, the psychometric properties of the scale may differ across languages and cultures and it is recommended to use a validated version of the scale in the desired language.
Scoring
The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSOCS) is scored by summing the responses to the 12 items on the scale. Each item is rated on a Likert-type scale, with responses ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The total score can range from 12 to 48, with higher scores indicating a stronger sense of community. The authors of the scale suggest a cut-off score of 30 as an indicator of a moderate sense of community. However, it’s important to note that the cut-off scores may vary depending on the sample and the context of the study.
It’s also worth noting that the BSOCS can also be scored to assess the four components of a sense of community separately: belonging, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs. This can provide additional insights on how the individual perceives their sense of community in the specific context.
It’s important to note that the scoring should be done by a trained professional to ensure accuracy and to interpret the results correctly in the context of the study.
Reliability and Validity
The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSOCS) has been found to have good reliability and validity in multiple studies.
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure, and for the BSOCS, studies have found a high level of internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.80 to 0.90. This suggests that the items on the scale are measuring a similar construct and are highly correlated with each other.
Validity is a measure of how well a test measures what it is supposed to measure. BSOCS has been found to have good construct validity, meaning that it is measuring the construct of sense of community. Studies have found that the BSOCS is positively correlated with other measures of community attachment and involvement, and negatively correlated with measures of isolation and alienation. Additionally, BSOCS has been found to be sensitive to changes in sense of community over time, which adds to its criterion-related validity.
However, it’s worth noting that the validity and reliability of the BSOCS has been studied mostly on Western cultures, and results may vary for other cultures. Therefore, it’s important to consider the cultural context of the population being studied when using BSOCS and to conduct cross-cultural validation studies.
Available Versions
Over time, different versions of the BSOCS have been developed, adapting the scale to different contexts or cultures. Some examples include:
- A shortened version of the BSOCS, which includes only 8 items, has been found to have similar reliability and validity as the original 12-item scale.
- A version of the BSOCS adapted for use in schools, which includes items such as “I feel like I belong in this school” and “I have a say in what goes on in this school.”
- A version of the BSOCS adapted for use in college settings, which includes items such as “I feel like I belong in this college” and “I have a say in what goes on in this college.”
Reference
The original publication for the Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSOCS) is:
McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6-23.
This article provides a detailed explanation of the development and validation of the BSOCS, as well as the conceptualization of sense of community. It is considered a seminal work in the field of community psychology and is widely cited in subsequent research on sense of community.
Additionally, other versions of the BSOCS have been developed and validated by different authors and are widely cited in their respective fields, such as:
- A shortened version of the BSOCS: Woolcock, J., & Johnson, J. (2015). Sense of community in a university context: A shortened version of the Brief Sense of Community Scale. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(1), 39-51.
- A version of the BSOCS adapted for use in schools: Scales, P. C., & Leffert, N. (1999). Developmental assets and asset-building communities: Implications for research, policy, and practice. The Search Institute.
- A version of the BSOCS translated to Spanish and adapted for use in Latino communities: Vélez-Rendón, M. (2009). Adaptación y validación del cuestionario de sentido de comunidad breve en una muestra colombiana. Revista Colombiana de Psicología, 18(1), 119-130.
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