Research methodology - unit 5 - Attitude measurement

7/23/2019 Research methodology - unit 5 - Attitude measurement

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Research MethodologyUnit 5

Attitude Scaling Techniques


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Attitude Scaling

Attitude: it is defined as a predisposition to respondto an idea or object

It is an enduring disposition to consistently respond

in a given matterAttitude scaling is the process of assessing an

attitudinal disposition using a number that

represents a persons score on an attitudinal

continuum ranging from an extremely favorabledisposition to an extremely unfavorable one.

Scaling is the procedure for assignment of numbers

(or symbols) for a property of objects in order to

impart some of the characteristics of numbers to the


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Three Components of an Attitude

Affective :

The feelings or emotions towards an

object

Cognitive:Knowledge and beliefs

Behavioral:

Predisposition to action

Intentions

Behavioral expectations


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Measuring Attitudes

Ranking

Rating

Sorting Choice


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The Attitude Measuring Process

Ranking - Rank order preference

Rating - Estimates magnitude of a

characteristic

Sorting - Arrange or classify concepts

Choice - Selection of preferred alternative


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Selecting a Measurement Scale

Selecting and constructing measurementscale required the consideration of several

factors that influences the reliability, validity

and practicality of the scale:

Research objectives

Research Types

Data properties

Number of dimensions

Balanced or unbalanced

Forced or unforced choice

Number of scale points


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Likert scale

Named after psychologist Rensis Likert

Respondents specify their level of agreement

or disagreement The range captures the intensity of their

feelings

A true Likert scale creates a single scale from

all of the items, then rescales each question

according to the overall scale score for each

response to each item


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Examples

It is more important for a wife to help herhusbands career than to have one herself.

It is much better for everyone if the man is

the achiever and the woman takes care of thefamily.

A preschool child is likely to suffer if his or her

mother works.

A working mother can establish just as warmand secure a relationship with her children as

a mother who does not work.


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The respondents has to choose from stronglyagree, agree, Neither agree nor disagreedisagree, or strongly disagree.

These are technically called Likert items


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Scoring and analysis

Likert scales are arbitrary

The distance between each successive

Likert item is equidistant


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design an attitude instrument. The bold face sets

are the most popular.

1. Agreement

Strongly Agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly

Disagree

AgreeStrongly

AgreeModerately

AgreeSlightly

DisagreeSlightly

DisagreeModerately

DisagreeStrongly

Agree Disagree

Agree Undecided Disagree

Agree VeryStrongly

Agree Strongly

Agree Disagree Disagree

Strongly

Disagree VeryStrongly

Yes No

CompletelyAgree

Mostly Agree Slightly Agree Slightly

Disagree

MostlyDisagree

CompletelyDisagree

DisagreeStrongly

Disagree Tend to

Disagree

Tend to Agree Agree Agree Strongly


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2. Frequency

VeryFrequently

Frequently Occasionally

Rarely Very Rarely Never

Always Very

Frequently

Occasionally

Rarely Very Rarely Never

Always Usually About Half

the Time

Seldom Never

AlmostAlways

To aConsiderable

Degree Occasionally Seldom

A Great Deal Much Somewhat Little Never

Often Sometimes Seldom Never

Always Very Often Sometimes Rarely Never


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3. Importance

Very Important Important Moderately

Important

Of Little Importance Unimportant

Very Important Moderately

Important

Unimportant

Very Important Important Neither Important or

Unimportant

Unimportant Very Unimportant


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4. Quality

Very Good Good Barely Acceptable Poor Very Poor

Extremely Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent

Good Fair Poor


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5. Liklihood

Like Me Unlike Me

To a Great Extent Somewhat Very Little Not at All

True False

Definitely Very Probably Probably Possibly Probably Not Very Probably

Not

Almost Always True Usually True Often True Occasionally True Sometimes But

Infrequently True

Usually Not True Almost Never True

True of Myself Mostly True of Myself About Halfway True of

Myself

Slightly True OfMyself

Not at All True ofMyself


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Semantic Differential

Designed to measure the connotativemeaning of objects, events, and concepts

Used to derive the attitude towards the given

object, event or concept Makes extensive use of words rather than

numbers

Seven-point rating scale with end points

associated with bipolar labels that havesemantic meaning.


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Example


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Advantages

Identifies particularly favorable or objectionableaspects of multi-faceted issues and concepts

Provides an overall response scale score (average)

for the concept

Disadvantages

Only useful for questions involving bipolar

opposites (e.g., interesting/dull, simple/complex,

active/passive)Adjectives may have different meanings for

different respondents


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Constant Sum Scaling

Respondents allocate a constant sum of units,

such as 100 points to attributes of a product to

reflect their importance.

If an attribute is unimportant, the respondent

assigns it zero points.

If an attribute is twice as important as some

other attribute, it receives twice as manypoints.

The sum of all the points is 100. Hence, the

name of the scale.


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Importance of Bathing Soap AttributesUsing a Constant Sum Scale

Instructions

On the next slide, there are eight

attributes of bathing soaps. Pleaseallocate 100 points among the attributes

so that your allocation reflects the

relative importance you attach to each

attribute. The more points an attribute

receives, the more important the

attribute is. If an attribute is not at all

important, assign it zero points. If an


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FormAverage Responses of Three Segments

Attribute Segment I Segment II

Segment III

1. Mildness2. Lather

3. Shrinkage

4. Price

5. Fragrance

6. Packaging7. Moisturizing

8. Cleaning PowerSum

8 2

2 4 17

3 9 7

53 17 9

9 0 19

7 5 9

5 3 20

13 60 15

100 100 100

Importance of Bathing Soap AttributesUsing a Constant Sum Scale


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Graphic Rating Scale

Oldest and most widely used method forperformance appraisal

Allows the rater to indicate an employees

performance on a variety of job behaviors Manager simply check the employees level of

performance

Requires an evaluator to indicate on a scale

the degree to which an employeedemonstrates a particular trait, behavior, or

performance result


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Who Conducts the Rating

Sourcesof Performance

Measurment

Supervisorsrating theiremployees

Team membersratingeachother

Employees rating

themselves

Team membersratingeachother


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Advantages

Standardization of content permitting comparisonof employees.

They also allow for quantitative comparison

Easy to use and cost little to develop

Disadvantages

Susceptible to rating errors like halo effect,

central tendency, severity, and leniency

Fails to provide a good mechanism for providingspecific, non--threatening feedback


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The End

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Research methodology - unit 5 - Attitude measurement