On 17 May 2000 19:14:01 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Paul Gardner) wrote:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >
> > I have been looking for resources on attitude scale construction. The
< snip, many details of some questions and answers >
PG >
> References in the area didn't stop with Edwards 1957! Some later texts
> that I can recommend are Robert de Vellis, Scale Development: Theory and
> Applications (Sage, 1991, strong on the psychometrics), Robert Gable,
> Instrument Development in the Affective Domain (Kluwer-Nijhoff, 1986,
> good on both psychometrics and scale development methods) and the
> revised edition of the classic A.N. Oppenheim, Questionnaire Design,
> Interviewing and Attitude Measurement (Pinter, 1992, emphasis on various
> qualititative and quantitative data-gathering techniques, not on the
> psychometrics).
< ... >
qtom > >
> > Does anyone know what happened? Did these methods go out of style
> > bacause they were superceded?
=========
My impression is
- "attitude measurement" had formerly (before WWII) been a focus, a
major area by itself. And that collapsed, for a couple of reasons.
My further impression is that psychologists had *tended* to look at
attitudes as permanent, deep-seated indicators of personality, and
that some of them (psychologists) were greatly shocked in the
post-WWII years when they measured attitudes that had vastly changed
in just a decade -- in particular, concerning women and concerning
blacks.
The recognition, "attitudes can change," was important. That allowed
(I think) the spread of the newer industry, public opinion polling,
since we are less secretive about *transient* matters. People today
would be much more offended if you called up and asked them to take a
personality test on the phone, or an IQ test, than if you ask their
opinions about the president or Congress.
But if attitudes are malleable, the measure of personality had to go
beyond a simple summation of attitudes, so the previous focus had to
change.
Does that sound reasonable?
--
Rich Ulrich, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.pitt.edu/~wpilib/index.html
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