A Review of the Sense of Community Index: Current Uses, Factor Structure, Reliability, and Further Development

Abstract

The short form of the Sense of Community Index (SCI) (Chavis, Hogge, McMillan, & Wandersman, 1986) was assessed in terms of the four dimensions of psychological sense of community (PSC) proposed by McMillan and Chavis (1986). Four sets of data were used. They measured PSC in the neighborhood for adults and adolescents, and workplace PSC for adults, using true/false and three‐point response formats. Reliabilities for the total SCI scores ranged from .64 to .69. Most subscale reliabilities were below acceptable levels, ranging from a low of .16 to a high of .72. Factor analyses showed some support for the existence of the four dimensions of the McMillan and Chavis PSC model in the SCI. However, they were not consistent across data sets. Further work to develop the SCI as a measure representative of the PSC model is outlined, with implications for adult and adolescent populations.