ATTITUDES AND THEIR MEASUREMENT

The term personality is a broad complex. It has inner as well as outer aspects. The inner aspects of the personality; the motivation perceptions, feelings, attitudes, interest, values and preferences are prejudices that are the basis one’s behavior. The inner aspect of the personality play the significant role in the performance of an individual. The measures of attitude, interests and values are different as these are independent traits. These aspects of one’s personality influence one another.

An attitude is a tendency to react favourably or unfavourably towards a disginted class of stimuli, such as a custom, a caste, an institution or a nation. An attitude can be observed directly. An attitude stands for response consistency to certain categories of stimuli. Attitude is frequently associated with social stimuli and emotionally toned responses.

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE

An attitude is a variable which directly observed but it is inferred from overt behavior both verbal and non- verbal responses. In more objective term the concept of attitude may be said to can not response tendency with regard to certain  categories of stimuli. In actual practice the term attitude has been most frequently associated with emotionally toned responses. The deep rooted feelings are the attitudes which can not be changed easily. An attitude is defined as a tendency to react in certain way towards a designated   class of stimuli or an object.

Attitude has been defined by others in the following ways. “an attitude is essentially a form of anticipatory response, a beginning of action not  necessarily completed” –K. Young

“An attitude can be defined as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes with respect  to some aspect of the individual’s word”- Krech and Crutchfield. Attitude is the sum total of an individual’s inclination, feelings, prejudices or biases, preconceived notton’s ideas threats and convictions or beliefs about any specific object”- L.L. Thurstone.

“An attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness, exerting directive or dynamic influence upon the individuals response to all objects and situations with which it is related”- Britt.

CHARACTERSTICS OF ATTITUDE

1.                 There are individual differences in attitudes

2.                 It is a bi-polar triat as it is a position towards an object either for or against.

3.                 It mat be overt  or covert and it is fathemless  or unlimited.

4.                 It is integrated in to an organized system  and can no be changed easily.

5.                 It varies culture to culture and society to society.

6.                 It implies a subject-object relationship.

DETERMINENTS OF ATTITUDE

The following factors may influence the attitudes of a person

a.                 Cultural and social factors

b.                 Psychological factors (needs, emotions, perceptions,

experiences etc.)

c.                  Functional factors (role of temperament)

THE ATTITUDES ARE FORMED ON THE FOLLOWING

BASIS.

1. Acceptance of social norms and calues. 2. Emotional and personal experiences

3.                 Ego-involvement and social perceptions

4.                 Technology changes and economic developments

5.                 Suggestions and self concept or ideals of life

MEASUREMENT OF ATTITUDES

There are various techniques for the measurement of attitudes.

The projective techniques used are Rorschach, T.A.T, Word Association Test and Sentence Completion test, Questionnaires, inventiories, Situatuational test and interviews are also helpful. The most important technique of measuring attitudes is the ‘Scaling’ techniques.

Types of attitude Scales

1.                 Numerical Scales

2.                 Graphic scales

3.                 Standard scales

4.                 Check lists

5.                 Forced choice scales

6.                 Ranking method

7.                 Q SORT METHOD

1.                 Numerical Scales:- One of the simplest to constract and

easiest to use, is the numerical rating scale. This type of tool usually consists of several items each of which names or describes the behaviour to be rated and then offers as alternative responses a series of numbers representing points along the scale. This simple cumerical scale does ave face validity and therefore seems to be widely accepted.

It is more subjective or bias tool.

2.                 Graphic Scales: if the format of the rating scale is such that the characteristics to be rated is represented as a straight line along which are placed some verbal guides, the tool is referred to as a graphic rating scale.

It is easy to construct and easy to administer therefore it is widely used of all the specific types of rating scales, but it is less reliable measure.

3.                 Standard scale: in the standard scale approach an attempt is made to provide the rater with more than verbal uses to describe various scale points. Ideally, several samples of the objects to be rated are included each with a given scale value which has been determined in experimental studies prior to the use of the scale.

4.                 CHECK LISTS:

An approach which is widely popular because it is simple to administer and still permits wide coverage in short time is the behavior check list. It contains a long list of specific behavior which supposedly represented individual differences and rater simply checks whether the item applies. The behavior index of individual is obtained by summing up the items, which have been checked.

5.                 FORCED CHOICE SCALE

One of the most recent innovations in the rating  scale area has been developed a forced choice technique which has been designed to overcome the major difficulties faced on with earlier techniques. In a forced choice  rating the rater is required to consider not just one attribute, but several characterstics all at one time. Rater is asked to select one which is most appropriate statement.

6.                 RANKING METHOD

It is not possible that rater can accurately judge equivalent distances at various points along the scale. Under these conditions a ranking method which requires only that subjects who are being rated to be placed in order of each trait cab be used. This approach is essential for large number of persons are to be rated.

The ranking approach has the advantage of forcing the judge to make a definite discriminations among this rates by eliminating the subjective differences faced by the judges, second advantage that group ranking is uniform.

7.                 Q SHORT

Q Short is developed by Stephenson. It is one of the best approach to obtain a comprehensive description of an individual while ranking method gives the comprehensive friction of a group of the individuals. Q short is widely used for rating persons School or on the job for individual guidance.

Some major approaches to scale construction

1.                 THURSTONE SCALE

The outstanding features of this scale is the use of judges to determine the points on the attitude continuum. Thursone’s quantification of judgement data represented a great achievement in attitude scale construction. Several hundred statements are gathered which seem to express various degrees of negative and positive attitudes towards the objects being studied. Several hundred persons are then chosen as judges. Each  judge is handed all the statements and asked to sort them into 11  piles from extremely favourable through neutral to extremely unfavourable. The judges are not to indicate their own attitudes but only classify the statement. The medium position assigned to each statement  is regarded it’s scale value. The variability of the judgement is taken as an index of it’s ambiguity. Items are chosen so as to represent minimum variability and a wide spread of scale values, providing equal spacing across the 11-point range. The Scale position for each item is considered to be the median intensity judgement. The final scale consists of twenty or so items which spread most evenly over the intensity range. Ideally, the items should have median intensity judgement respectively of 0,0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and so on. In the final form of the scale, the statements are presented in random order, without giving any indication of their scale values. The respondents’s score is the median scale value of all the statements be endorses.

By these procedures, Thurstone, (1959) and his co-workers prepared about 20 scales for measuring attitudes towards war, church, patriortrism, capital punishment, censorship, and many other institutions,, practices, issues and groups.

2.                 LIKERT- TYPE SCALE

Likert (1932) developed a scale that is easier to construct. At the same time it yields satisfactory reliability. It also starts with the collection of a large number of positive and negative statement about an object. Judges are not employed in this method. Instead, the scale is derived by item analysis techniques. The items are administered to a group of subjects. Each item is rated on a five point continuum. Only those items which have high correlation with total score are retained for the attitude scale. The principal basis for item selection is internal consistency. This method more directly determines whether or not only one attitude is involved in the items collected. On the five point scale an individual gets scores from 5 to 1  for positive items and from 1 to 5 for negative items. His final score is obtained by summing up the item scores.

1.                 Comprising the Likert and Thurstone methods, the Likert approach is more empirical because it dealts directly with respondents score rather than employing judges.

2.                 The Likert method more directly determines whether or not

only one attitude is involved in the original collection of items and the scale which is derived measures the most general attitudinal  factor which is present. The use of a five points scale for each item provides more information than the simple dictionary of agree or disagree.

3.                 The only place in which the Thurstone method mi9ght be

superior is in the direct meaning-fulness of scale scores but the Likert method fails to provide absolute meaning.

4.                 The Likert also uses more statements as a rule, therefore it is reliable than the Thurstone type.

3.                 Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory

It is a modified form of Likert-type Scale. Each statement

is to be marked in the same way on the five point-scale.  The numerical weights for these responses are based on criterion keying, rather than on the usual 1 to 5 scale. It was developed by administering over 700 items to 100 teachers nominated as superior in student- teacher relationship and 100 teachers  nominated as inferior in this relationship. Cross-validation  of the final 150 item inventory in different groups yielded concurrent- validity co-efficients of 0.46 to 0.60 with a composite criterion derived from the principal’s estimate pupils rating and evaluation y an expert. Subsequent longitudinal studies by the author found predicitive validation against the same criterion.

4.                 THE BOGARDUS SOCIAL DISTANCE SCALE

Bogardus developed a technique for measuring attitude towards different national groups. This scaling procedure, such as the Thurstone and Likert methods, the Bogardus scale is identified by a novel type items in social distance form. The Bogardus social distance scale is much easier to construct than other scales.

5.                 THE GUTTMAN METHOD OF SCALE

An interesting new approach to attitudes scaling is the procedure developed by Guttman in connection with studies of the morale of American soldiers during the second world war. The response pattern found in the perfect Guttman Scale is exactly what is  obtained if people are rule-ordered on a physical conditions. The purpose of the Guttman procedure is to test whether or not a collection of attitude statements will exhibit the characteristic pattern.

USE OF FACTOR ANALYSIS

To determine the number and kind of scales involved in a collection of items is to perform factor analysis of the responses. After the collection of items is administered to a group of severalhundred respondents, all inter correlations among the items are worked out. The inter correlations are then factor analysed. Each of the majo0r factors constitutes a separate attitude scale. The items which relate most prominently to a factor can be used to construct the scale. Factor analysis is more necessary in deriving in scales in subtle attitude domains, like attitude of workers towards, working conditions in their factory and attitudes of people towards government spending.

RELIABILITY

Well constructed attitude scales are as reliable as most of the aptitude tests. The reliability is largely dependent on the number of items in the scale and the amount of correlation among the items. However a short and unreliable scale will serve to differentiate the attitude of groups of persons.

VALIDITY

Most of the attitude scales do a sufficiently good job of sampling verbal reactions to be considered valid measures of expressed attitudes. It was recommended to use some open interviews before constructing the scale, to help ensure content  representativeness  for the item.

DEPTH OF ATTITUDES

What the individual says about his attitudes may be different from attitudes which he express in other ways. The individual may consciously cover up socially unacceptable attitudes. For the sake of measuring attitudes, it is important to learn the feeling that people express.

Most of the attitude scales have been prepared for use in research. Some were designed for investigating the employee attitudes and morale and some for assessing the outcome of educational and training programmes. Attitude scales may also evaluate different instructional procedures used to modify some attitudes. They find the most extensive application inn research  in social psychology.