E-sports awareness scale validity and reliability study

The aim of this research is to determine the attitudes and behaviors of the society and athletes regarding e-sports awareness, to develop a valid and reliable e-sports awareness scale to measure them, and to evaluate the awareness towards e-sports based on this scale. The research was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, the universe of the research consists of volunteer individuals who are interested in e-sports in Istanbul, have played e-sports games for at least 1 year and have experience in this field. The sample consists of voluntary participants (n=179) determined by convenience sampling method. In the second stage, volunteer participants (n=179) constitute the sample of the research. In the research, a questionnaire technique was used based on volunteerism and the data collection method was carried out in this way. In the first part of the study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyzes were applied through IBM SPSS 25 and Lisrel 8.80 package program in the analysis of the data. In the second part, Independent sample T test and Oneway ANOVA analysis were applied from distribution analysis, descriptive analysis and parametric hypothesis tests. As a result, it was determined that the 10-item e-sports awareness scale developed to determine awareness towards e-sports is a valid and reliable measurement tool. It has been determined that the gender variable is a determining variable in e-sports awareness, and women's awareness of e-sports is at a higher level. It has been determined that age and e-sports background do not play a decisive role in e-sports awareness, and e-sports awareness exhibits similar characteristics. In the education variable, it has been determined that high school graduates have a better level of e-sports awareness, and there is a difference in the income level of individuals with high income. It has been determined that there is a difference in the fact that individuals who have an active time of 4-5 hours in e-sports perceive e-sports better, and that individuals who are active in e-sports as broadcasters have a better level of awareness of e-sports. Keywords: E-sports, E-sports perception, sport, game, digital game