ATTITUDE SCALES

CONCEPT OF ATTITUDE

Attitudes are individual mental processes which

determine both the actual and potential responses of each person in a social world. Since an attitude is always directed toward some object it may be defined as “the state of mind of the individual toward a value.”

COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

There are three main components of attitudes:A Cognitive ComponentAn Affective ComponentA Behavioral Component

GENERAL PROCEDURE IN ATTITUDE SCALING

The most commonly used approach for the measurement of attitude is the Self- Report, where a person is asked directly how he feels about an object.

Other methods are observation of behavior, indirect techniques such as word– association tests, sentence-completion tests, story telling, performance of ‘objective’ tasks and physiological reactions.

Process of Self – Report Method

• One should assemble a set of items or statements related to the subject of enquiry. From this pool of items, a final choice of items is to be made for inclusion in the scale.

• Choose the items or statements for final scale (Use of exploratory study or Thurstone Scale).

• Finally, scale should be tested in regard to its reliability and validity.

A Classification of Scaling Techniques

Likert Semantic Differential

Stapel

Scaling Techniques

NoncomparativeScales

Comparative Scales

Paired Comparison

Rank Order

Constant Sum

Q-Sort and Other Procedures

Continuous Rating Scales

Itemized Rating Scales

SELECTED ATTITUDE SCALES

• Paired-comparison Scale• Thurstone Scale• The Summated rating Scale (Likert Scale)• Scalogram Analysis• Semantic Differential• Stapel

A Comparison of Scaling Techniques

• Comparative scales involve the direct comparison of stimulus objects. Comparative scale data must be interpreted in relative terms and have only ordinal or rank order properties.

• In noncomparative scales, each object is scaled

independently of the others in the stimulus set. The resulting data are generally assumed to be interval or ratio scaled.

Relative Advantages of Comparative Scales

• Small differences between stimulus objects can be detected.• Same known reference points for all respondents. • Easily understood and can be applied. • Involve fewer theoretical assumptions.• Tend to reduce halo or carryover effects from one judgment

to another.

Relative Disadvantages of Comparative Scales

• Ordinal nature of the data • Inability to generalize beyond the stimulus objects scaled.

Paired Comparison Scaling

• A respondent is presented with two objects and asked to select one according to some criterion.

• The data obtained are ordinal in nature. • Paired comparison scaling is the most widely used

comparative scaling technique.• With n brands, [n(n - 1) /2] paired comparisons are required• Under the assumption of transitivity, it is possible to convert

paired comparison data to a rank order.

The Likert Scale (Summated Ratings Scale)• A multiple item rating scale in which the degree of an attribute

possessed by an object is determined by asking respondents to agree or disagree with a series of positive and/or negative statements describing the object.

• Example:

Totally disagree Disagree Neutral Agree

Totally agree

a) Shopping takes much longer on the Internet [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]b) It is a good thing that Saudi consumers have the opportunity to buy products through the [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]c) Buying products over the Internet is not a sensible thing to do [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Attitude toward buying from the Internet

Characteristics of the Likert Scale• The following procedure is used to analyze data from Likert

scales:1. First, weights are assigned to the responses options, e.g. Totally

agree=1, Agree=2, etc2. Then negatively-worded statements are reverse-coded (or

reverse scored). E.g. a score of 2 for a negatively-worded statement with a 5-point response options is equivalent to a score of 4 on an equivalent positive statement.

3. Next, scores are summed across statements to arrive at a total (or summated) score.

4. Each respondent’s score can then be compared with the mean score or the scores of other respondents to determine his level of attitude, loyalty, or other construct that is being measured

• Note that the response for each individual statement is expressed on a category scale.

Guttman Scale This technique assesses the extent of the subject’s

agreement with items, where the items are meant to represent a continuum.For example, one might ask these questions:

1. Do you drink alcohol?2. Do you smoke marijuana?3. Do you use cocaine?

One might anticipate that all persons who answer “yes” to #3 would also answer “yes” to #1 and #2, and so forth.

Guttman Scale (Continued) This technique can be used to ask many

questions in a short amount of space (mailed survey) or time (telephone survey).

The technique is intuitively appealing to most persons.

The technique provides continuous-level and ranked data.

The items have to form a continuum that is accepted by respondents and the community of scholars.

Semantic Differential Scale • A rating scale in which bipolar adjectives are placed at both

ends (or poles) of the scale, and response options are expressed as “semantic” space.

Example: Please rate car model A on each of the following dimensions:Durable ---:-X-:---:---:---:---:--- Not durableLow fuel consumption ---:---:---:---:---:-X-:--- High fuel consumption

Characteristics1. The scale has properties of an interval scale.2. Sometimes descriptive phrases are used instead of bipolar

adjectives, especially when it is difficult to get adjectives that are exact opposites

3. It is often used to construct an image profile.

Stapel Scale • A simplified version of the semantic differential scale in which a single

adjective or descriptive phrase is used instead of bipolar adjectives.

Characteristics1. The scale measures both the direction and intensity of the attribute

simultaneously.2. It has properties similar to the semantic differential.

Example:

Model A-3 -2 -1 Durable Car 1 2 3-3 -2 -1 Good Fuel Conaumption 1 2 3

Rank Order Scaling

• Respondents are presented with several objects simultaneously and asked to order or rank them according to some criterion.

• It is possible that the respondent may dislike the brand ranked 1 in an absolute sense.

• Further more, rank order scaling also results in ordinal data. • Only (n - 1) scaling decisions need be made in rank order

scaling.

Preference for Toothpaste Brands Using Rank Order Scaling

Instructions: Rank the various brands of toothpaste in order of preference. Begin by picking out the one brand that you like most and assign it a number 1. Then find the second most preferred brand and assign it a number 2. Continue this procedure until you have ranked all the brands of toothpaste in order of preference. The least preferred brand should be assigned a rank of 10.

No two brands should receive the same rank number.

The criterion of preference is entirely up to you. There is no right or wrong answer. Just try to be consistent.

Brand Rank Order

1. Crest _________

2. Colgate _________

3. Aim _________

4. Gleem _________

5. Macleans _________

6. Ultra Brite _________

7. Close Up _________

8. Pepsodent _________

9. Plus White _________

10. Stripe _________

Preference for Toothpaste Brands Using Rank Order Scaling

Form

Constant-Sum Scale • A rating scale in which respondents divide a constant sum among

different attributes of an object (usually to indicate the relative importance of each attribute).

• Assumed to have ratio level properties.

Example: Divide 100 points among the following dimensions to indicate their level of importance to you when you purchase a car:

Durability Fuel Consumption Total 100

LIMITATIONS OF ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT

• Criticised on account of their inability to predict behavior.

• Normally tend to overlook the immediate environment of the consumers.

• Relationship between attitudes and buying behavior still continues to be indistinct.