2.3 Data Collection Tools
Data collection tools were the Personal Information Form and the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI).
Personal Information Form (includes independent variables): This form aimed to determine some sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education level, job, habits, presence of any chronic illness, etc.) of the participants.
Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI): (includes dependent variables): The scale developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) was adapted into Turkish by Dürü (2006). The Turkish version consists of 21 six-point Likert type (0-5) items and a 5-factor structure. The scale has no reverse-scored items. The total score varies between 0 and 105, and the higher the score, the higher the post-traumatic growth level. The scale has three sub-dimensions: Changes in Self-Perception (CiSP), A Changed Philosophy of Life (ACPoL), and Changes in Interpersonal Relationships (CiIR). In the reliability analysis, the internal consistencies of the scale were calculated as follows: α = 0.88 for CiSP, α = 0.78 for ACPoL, α = 0.77 for CiIR, and α = 0.92 for overall PTGI. In this study, they were calculated as follows: α = 0.93 for CiSP, α = 0.88 for ACPoL, α = 0.83 for CiIR, and α = 0.95 for overall PTGI. In the literature, if the alpha is between 0.00 ≤ α < 0.40 the scale is considered unreliable, if between 0.40 ≤ α 0.60 reliability is considered low, if between 0.60 ≤ α 0.80 the scale is considered quite reliable, and if between 0.80 ≤ α 1.00 the scale is considered highly reliable.22 Based on this, the scale used in this study can be considered highly reliable. The Kaiser-Meyer Olkin (KMO) coefficient was also examined for the suitability of the data and the adequacy of the sample size. A KMO value of 0.80 and above is considered excellent, 0.70 - 0.80 is good, 0.60 - 0.70 is medium, 0.50 - 0.60 is bad, and below 0.50 is unacceptable.23 In this study, the KMO value was calculated as 0.92 (excellent).