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Abstract
This research develops and validates a specific instrument to assess the cluster formation of
tomatoes agro industry. The scale was applied to tomatoes producer. A self-administered
instrument was designed to measure the cluster formation of agro industry. It was submitted for
review by a multidisciplinary group of experts who assessed its logical and content validity. We
determined to construct validity using factor analysis with main components and Varimax
rotation. The eigenvalues were above 1 and factor loadings, above 0.50. Thirty four items were
eliminated from the analysis because they showed a low correlation with the total correlation
of the scale. The initial main-components analysis revealed thirteen (13) factors with an
explained variation of 85.134%. However, six factors were not taken into account, because
they had only one item or items significant loads in several domains in factorial analysis.
Consequently, final scale was accepted with 52 items. The global rating of the questionnaire
had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.888. The article offers a methodological approach to exploring
how this instrument might be adapted for use with populations other than the one for which it
was designed. The scale has good inner validity and consistency as an incipient construct.