As noted above, we measured the internal reliability of our relationship variables using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, with higher values indicating higher consistency.
Finally, our exploratory factor analyses indicated a one-factor solution for all items of their respective scale.
This means that respondents’ observed characteristics measured by items readily available in the survey indeed supported our pre-conceptualized notions of strain and captured the two dimensions of the underlying concepts we sought to measure. The scales’ high internal reliability indicates that these items were highly correlated to their respective grouping.
All scales were later standardized so that their minimum value is zero. Standardizing does not alter the results, however, but merely eases the interpretation of the descriptive statistics and coefficients.