Student Social Connection Scale (Expectation / Experience): Development and Validation Dataset, 2023-2024

This dataset contains quantitative data generated during the development and validation of the Student Social Connection Scale (Expectation / Experience), a psychometric measure designed to assess university students’ expectations for social connection and their subsequent experiences of social connection during university. The data were collected as part of a programme of research examining how social expectations and experiences relate to student loneliness and sense of belonging in UK higher education.

The dataset brings together data from multiple stages of scale development and evaluation, including large-scale survey administrations used for item generation, item reduction, factor analysis, and validation. It includes responses to an initial pool of candidate items, intermediate versions of the scale, and the final validated 9-item Student Social Connection Scale – Expectation. Parallel items forming the Student Social Connection Scale – Experience were administered at follow-up, enabling longitudinal analysis of expectation–experience discrepancies.

Responses were recorded using Likert-type rating scales. In addition to the scale items, the dataset includes anonymised demographic variables and validated comparator measures used to assess reliability and validity, including brief measures of loneliness and sense of belonging. Pseudonymous participant identifiers enable linkage of responses across time points while preserving anonymity.

The data support a wide range of secondary analyses, including psychometric evaluation, scale refinement, measurement invariance testing, and longitudinal modelling of social connection, belonging, and loneliness. The dataset is suitable for reuse by researchers interested in student mental health, social connection, transition to university, and psychometric scale development.

All data have been anonymised prior to deposit. No direct identifiers or free-text responses are included. The dataset is accompanied by detailed documentation, including a comprehensive codebook describing item wording, response options, scale construction, scoring procedures, and wave availability, supporting transparent and reproducible secondary analysis.