An Adaptation of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) for Postgraduate Students in Pakistan: Results of an Exploratory Factor Analysis

This paper presents the results of an exploratory factor analysis of the motivation scales of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). This analysis was a part of my PhD research on motivational beliefs, course experiences and future plans of the postgraduate students in Pakistan. An exploratory factor analysis of motivational subscales was used to examine the factor structure and internal reliability of these scales with a sample of 368 postgraduate students in the context of Pakistan. The results of the study showed that the factor structure of the six motivation scales of the MSLQ was significantly modified with the current sample of postgraduate students in Pakistan. These results indicated that there was a need for further development and careful adaptation of MSLQ for use in other eastern contexts in general and in the context of Pakistani higher education in particular.