I receive regular requests for additional information on the scales in the paper "Boundary control and controlled boundaries: Organizational expectations for technology use at the work–family interface," adapted from scales created by Melissa Fender. The wording of the original 13 items was adjusted and the scale was shortened to four items. Below are the full items, including the unused family-to-work directional version of the scale. Both versions were validated with a pilot study and full details can be found in my dissertation. Items with an asterisk were retained for the four-item version. Also below is the exact wording of the after-hours electronic communication expectation scale, also adapted from Melissa Fender's 2010 dissertation. All seven items were used for this scale.
WORK-FAMILY TECHNOLOGY USE
Response options: 1-5 scale from “not at all” to “to a great extent”
Note: Only starred items retained for full sample.
Instructions: For the following questions, consider your usage of technology such as e-mail, cell phones, voice mails, and instant messaging over a typical month.
In a typical month, to what extent do you...
*42. ...use technology to keep up with work matters while at home?
43. ...use technology to communicate with your workplace outside of normal work hours?
*44. ...use technology to perform work tasks while at home?
45. ...respond to someone from work using technology to communicate with you when you're at home?
*46. ...use technology to stay connected to your work no matter where you are?
47. ...use technology to stay connected to your work no matter what time it is?
*48. ...use technology to access information pertaining to work tasks while at home?
49. ...experience interruptions at home from work-related communications?
50. ...provide status reports after working hours via technology?
51. ...check for technology-based communications as soon as you got up in the morning?
52. ...use technology to contact others in the organization to work on problems you learned about after typical working hours?
53. ...actively check for messages using technology after typical working hours?
54. ...use technology to immediately respond to work-related communications after typical working hours?
FAMILY-WORK TECHNOLOGY USE
55. ...use technology to keep up with family matters while at work?
*56. ...use technology to communicate with your family or friends during normal work hours?
57. ...use technology to perform personal tasks while at work?
*58. ...respond to a family member using technology to communicate with you when you're working?
59. ...use technology to stay connected to your family no matter where you are?
60. ...use technology to stay connected to your family no matter what time it is?
*61. ...use technology to access information pertaining to your family while working?
62. ...experience interruptions while working from family-related communications?
*63. ...check in with family during working hours via technology?
64. ...check for technology-based communications from family as soon as you get to work?
65. ...use technology to address family-related problems during the workday?
66. ...actively check for messages from family using technology after typical working hours?
67. ...use technology to immediately respond to family-related communications during typical working hours?
AFTER-HOURS ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION EXPECTATIONS
Response options: not at all true, a little bit true, somewhat true, mostly true, completely true
Instructions: To what extent are the following statements true of you and your situation?
1. My organization expects me to respond to after-hours electronic work communications immediately.
2. My organization expects me to be available for the organization to contact me in off hours.
3. My organization expects me to watch for incoming electronic communications from work after-hours.
4. My organization expects me to be reachable through electronic communication when I go on vacation.
5. My organization expects me to check for electronic communications from work when I am on vacation.
6. When I'm given work that I need to finish at home, my organization expects me to let my boss know via electronic communication as soon as it's finished.
7. If I have important information about work after hours, my organization expects me to electronically communicate it right away.