Type II error - An error caused by failing to reject a null hypothesis that is not true
ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT AND SCALING TECHNIQUES
OBJECTIVES
· To understand the definition of attitude
· To learn the techniques for measuring attitudes STRUCTURE
· Techniques for measuring attitude
· Physiological measures of attitude
· Summated rating method
· Numerical scale
· Graphic rating scale ATTITUDE DEFINED
There are many definitions for the term attitude. An attitude is usually viewed as an enduring disposition to respond consistently in a given manner to various aspects of the world, including persons, events, and objects. One conception of attitude is reflected in this brief statement: "Sally loves working at Sam's. She believes it's clean, conveniently located, and has the best wages in town She intends to work there until she retires”. In this short description are three components of attitude: the affective, the cognitive, and the behavioral.
The affective component reflects an individual's general feelings or emotion toward an object. Statements such as "I love my job", "I liked that book, A Corporate Bestiary”, and "I hate apple juice" - reflect the emotional character of attitudes.
The way one feels about a product, a person, or an object is usually tied to one‘s beliefs or cognitions. The cognitive component represents one's awareness of and
knowledge about an object. A woman might feel happy about her job because she
"believes that the pay is great" or because she knows "that my job is the biggest challenge in India."
The third component of an attitude is the behavioral component. Intention and behavioral expectations are included in this component, which therefore reflects a predisposition to action.
Techniques for Measuring Attitudes
A remarkable variety of techniques have been devised to measure attitudes part, this diversity stems from the lack, of consensus about the exact definite of the concept.
Further, the affective, cognitive, and behavioral component an attitude may be
measured by different means. For example, sympathetic nervous system responses may
be recorded using physiological measures to measure affect but they are not good measures of behavioral intentions. Direct verbal statements concerning affect, belief, or behavior are utilized to measure behavioral intent. However, attitudes may also be measured indirectly by using the qualitative explanatory techniques. Obtaining verbal statements from respondents generally requires that the respondent perform a task such as ranking, rating, sorting, or making a choice or a comparison.
A ranking task requires that the respondents rank order a small number of items on the basis of overall preference or some characteristic of the stimulus. Rating asks the respondents to estimate the magnitude of a characteristic or quality that an object possesses. Quantitative scores, along a continuum that has been supplied to the
respondents, are used to estimate the strength of the attitude or belief. In other words, the respondents indicate the position, on a scale, where they would rate the object.
A sorting technique might present respondents with several product concepts, printed on cards, and require that the respondents arrange the cards into a number of piles or otherwise classify the product concepts. The choice technique, choosing one of two or more alternatives, is another type of attitude measurement. If a respondent chooses one object over another, the researcher can assume that the respondent prefers the chosen object over the other.
The most popular techniques for measuring attitudes are presented in this chapter.
Physiological Measures of Attitudes
Measures of galvanic skin response, blood pressure, and pupil dilation and other physiological measures may be utilized to assess the affective component of attitudes.
They provide a means of measuring attitudes without verbally questioning the
respondent. In general, they can provide a gross measure of like or dislike, but they are not sensitive measures for identifying gradients of an attitude.
Attitude Rating Scales
Using rating scales to measure attitudes is perhaps the most common practice in business research. This section discusses many rating, scales designed to enable respondents to report the intensity of their attitudes.
Simple Attitude Scales
In this most basic form, attitude scaling requires that an individual agree or disagree with a statement or respond to a single question. For example, respondents in a political poll may be asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement "The president should run for re-election", or an individual might be asked to indicate whether he likes or dislikes labor unions. Because this type or self-rating scale merely classifies
respondents into one of two categories, it has only the properties of a nominal scale.
This, of course, limits the type of mathematical analysis that may be utilized with this basic scale. Despite the disadvantages, simple attitude scaling may be used when
questionnaires are extremely long, when respondents have little education, or for other specific reasons.
Most attitude theorists believe that attitudes vary along continua. An early attitude researcher pioneered the view that the task of attitude scaling is to measure the distance from "good" to "bad", "low" to "high", "like" to "dislike , and so on. Thus the purpose of an attitude scale is to find an individual's position on the continuum. Simple scales do not allow for making fine distinctions in attitudes. Several scales have been developed to help make more precise measurements.
Category Scales
Some rating scales have only two response categories: agree and disagree. Expanding the response categories provides the respondent more flexibility in the rating task. Even more information is provided if the categories are ordered according to a descriptive or evaluative dimension. Consider the questions below:
How often is your supervisor courteous and friendly to you?
___Never ___Rarely ___Often ___Very often
Each of these category scales is a more sensitive measure than a scaled with only two response categories. Each provides more information.
Wording is an extremely important factor in the usefulness of these scales. Exhibit 14.1 shows some common wordings for category scales.
Summated Ratings Method: The Likert Scale
Business researchers' adaptation of the summated ratings method, developed by Rensis Likert, is extremely popular for measuring attitudes because the method is simple to administer. With the Likert scale, respondents indicate their attitudes by checking how strongly they agree or disagree with carefully constructed statements that range from very positive to very negative toward the attitudinal object. Individuals generally choose from five alternatives: strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree, and strongly disagree; but the number of alternatives may range from three to nine.
Consider the following example from a study on mergers and acquisitions:
Mergers and acquisitions provide a faster means of growth than internal expansions.
Strongly Disagree Disagree Uncertain Agree Strongly agree (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
To measure the attitude, researchers assign scores or weights to the alternative
responses. In thus example, weights of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 are assigned to the answers. (The weights, shown in parentheses, would not be printed questionnaire). Because the
statement used as an example is positive towards the attitude, strong agreement
indicates the most favorable attitudes on the statement and is assigned a weight of 5. If a negative statement toward the object (such as "Your access to copy machines is limited") were given the weights would be reversed, and "strongly degree" would be assigned the weight of 5. A single scale item on a summated rating scale is an ordinal scale.
A Likert scale may include several scale items to form an index. Each statement is assumed to represent an aspect of a common attitudinal domain For example, Exhibit 14.2 shows the items in a Likert scale to measure attitudes toward a management by objectives program. The total score is the summation of the weights assigned to an individual's response.
For example:
Here are some statements that describe how employees might feel about the MBO (management by objectives, form of management. Please indicate your agreement or disagreement for each statement. Please encircle the appropriate number to indicate whether you:
1 - Strongly Agree 2 – Agree 3 – Neutral 4 – Disagree 5 - Strongly Disagree Circle one and only one answer for each statement. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions:
In Likert's original procedure, a large number of statements are generated and then an item analysis is performed. The purpose of the item analysis is to ensure that final items evoke a wide response and discriminate among those with positive and negative attitudes. Items that are poor because they lack clarity or elicit mixed response patterns are eliminated from the final statement list. However, many business researchers do not follow the exact procedure prescribed by Likert. Hence, many business researches do not follow the exact procedure prescribed by Likert. Hence, a disadvantage of the Likert-type summated rating method is that it is difficult to know what a single summated score means. Many patterns of response to the various statements can produce the same total score. Thus, identical total scores may reflect different "attitudes" because
respondents endorsed different combinations of statements.
Semantic Differential
The semantic differential is a series of attitude scales. This popular
attitude-measurement technique consists of presenting an identification of a company, product, brand, job, or other concept, followed by a series of seven-point bipolar rating scales.
Bipolar adjectives, such as "good" and "bad", "modern" and "old-fashioned", or "clean"
and "dirty," anchor the beginning and end (or poles) of the scale.
Modern_____:______ :_____:______:_____:_____ :_____ Old-Fashioned The subject makes repeated judgments of the concept under investigation on each of the scales.
The scoring of the semantic differential can be illustrated by using the scale bounded by the anchors "modern" and "old-fashioned." Respondents are instructed to check the place that indicates the nearest appropriate adjective. From left to right, the scale intervals are interpreted as extremely modern, very modern, slightly modern, both modern and old-fashioned, slightly old-fashioned, very old-fashioned, and extremely old-fashioned. A weight is assigned to each position on the rating scale. Traditionally, scores are 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3.
Many researchers find it desirable to assume that the semantic differential provides interval data. This assumption, although widely accepted, has its critics, who argue that the data have only ordinal properties because the weights are arbitrary. Depending on whether the data are assumed to be interval or ordinal, the arithmetic mean or the median is utilized to plot the profile of one concept, product, unit, etc., compared with another concept, product, or units.
The semantic differential technique was originally developed by Charles Osgood and others as a method for measuring the meaning of objects or the "semantic space" of interpersonal experience." Business researchers have found the semantic differential versatile and have modified it for business applications.
Numerical Scales
Numerical scales have numbers, rather than "semantic space" or verbal descriptions as response options to identify categories (response positions). If the scale items have five response positions, the scale is called a 5-point numerical scale; with seven response positions, it is called a 7-point numerical scale, and so on.
Consider the following numerical scale:
Now that you've had your automobile for about one year, please tell us how satisfied you are with your Ford Ikon:,
Extremely Satisfied Extremely Dissatisfied 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This numerical scale utilizes bipolar adjectives in the same manner as the semantic differential.
Constant-Sum Scale
If a Parcel Service company wishes to determine the importance of the attributes of accurate invoicing, delivery as promised, and price to organizations that use its service in business-to-business marketing. Respondents might be asked to divide a constant sum to indicate the relative importance of the attributes. For example:
Divide 100 points among the following characteristics of a delivery service according to how important each characteristic is to you when selecting a delivery company.
Accurate invoicing___
Delivery as promised___
Lower price___
The constant-sum-scale works best with respondents with high educational levels. If respondents follow instructions correctly, the results approximate interval measures. As in the paired-comparison method, as the number of stimuli increases this technique becomes more complex.
Stapel Scale
The Stapel scale was originally developed in the 1950s to measure the direction and intensity of an attitude simultaneously. Modern versions of the scale use a single
adjective as a substitute for the semantic differential when it is difficult to create pairs of bipolar adjectives. The modified Stapel scale places a single adjective in the center of an even number of numerical values (for example, ranging from +3 to -3). It measures how close to or how distant from the adjective a given stimulus is perceived to be.
The advantages and disadvantages of the Stapel scale are very similar to those of the semantic differential. However, the Stapel scale is markedly easier to administer, especially over the telephone. Because the Stapel scale does not requires bipolar adjectives, as does the semantic differential, the Stapel scale is easier to construct.
Research comparing the semantic differential with the Stapel scale indicates that results from the two techniques are largely the same.
Graphic Rating Scale
A graphic rating scale presents respondents with graphic continuum. The respondents are allowed to choose any point on the continuum to indicate their attitudes. Typically, a respondent's score is determined by measuring the length (in millimeters) from one end of the graphic continuum to the point marked by the respondent. Many researchers believe scoring in this manner strengthens the assumption that graphic rating scales of this type are interval scales. Alternatively, the researcher may divide the line into
predetermined scoring categories (lengths) and record respondent's marks accordingly.
In other words, the graphic rating scale has the advantage of allowing the researchers to choose any interval they wish for purposes of scoring. The disadvantage of the graphic rating scale is that there are no standard answers.
Thurstone Equal-Appearing Interval Scale
In 1927, Louis Thurstone, an early pioneer in attitude research, developed the concept that attitudes vary along continua and should be measured accordingly. Construction of a Thurstone scale is a rather complex process that requires two stages. The first stage is a ranking operation, performed by judges, who assigns scale values to attitudinal statements. The second stage consists of asking subjects to respond to the attitudinal statements.
The Thurstone method is time-consuming and costly. From a historical perspective it is valuable, but its current popularity is low, because it is rarely utilized in most applied business research.
Scales Measuring Behavioral Intentions and Expectations
The behavioral component of an attitude involves the behavioral expectations of an individual toward an attitudinal object. Typically, this represents an intention or a tendency to seek additional information. Category scales that measure the behavioral component of an attitude attempt to determine a respondent's "likelihood" of action or intention to perform some future action, as in the following examples:
How likely is it that you will change jobs in the next six months
· I definitely will change.
· I probably will change.
· I might change.
· I probably will not change.
· I definitely will not change.
I would write a letter to my congressmen or other government official in support of this company if it were in a dispute with government.
· Extremely likely
· Very likely
· Somewhat likely
· Likely, about 50-50 chance
· Somewhat unlikely
· Very unlikely
· Extremely unlikely Behavioral Differential
A general instrument, the behavioral differential, has been developed to measure the behavioral intentions of subjects toward an object or category of objects. As in the semantic differential, a description of the object to be judged is placed on the top of a sheet, and the subjects indicate their behavioral intentions toward this object on a series of scales. For example, one item might be:
A 25-year-old female commodity broker
Would: ______:_____ :_____ :_____ :_____ :_____:Would not ask this person for advice.
Ranking
People often rank order their preferences. An ordinal scale may be developed by asking respondents to rank order (from most preferred to lease preferred) a set of objects or attributes. It is not difficult for respondents to understand the task of rank ordering the importance of fringe benefits or arranging a set of job tasks according to preference.
Paired Comparisons
The following question is the typical format for asking about paired comparisons.
I would like to know your overall opinion of two brands of adhesive bandages. They are Curad brand and Band-Aid brand. Overall, which of these two brands - Curad or Band-Aid - do you think is the better one? Or are both the same?
Curad is better____
Band-Aid is better____
They are the same____
Ranking objects with respects to one attribute is not difficult if only a few concepts or items are compared. As the number of items increases, the number of comparisons increases geometrically. If the number of comparisons is too great, respondents may become fatigued and no longer carefully discriminate among them.
Sorting
Sorting tasks requires that respondents indicate their attitudes or beliefs by arranging items.
SUMMARY
This chapter describes the technique for measuring attitude. This paper outlined the importance of the attitude.
KEY TERMS
· Attitude
· Affective component
· Cognitive component
· Behavioral component
· Ranking
· Rating
· Category scale
· Likert scale
· Semantic differential scale
· Numerical scale
· Constant sum scale
· Stapel scale
· Graphic rating scale
· Paired comparison QUESTIONS
1. What is an attitude?
2. Distinguish between rating and ranking. Which is a better attitude measurement?
Why?
3. Describe the different methods of scale construction, pointing out the merits and demerits of each.
4. What advantages do numerical scales have over semantic differential scales?
End of chapter -LESSON – 16