This document discusses various methods for assessing attitudes, including direct and indirect methods. Direct methods involve verbal reports of attitudes through questioning, interviews, or attitude scales like Likert scales where individuals rate their agreement with statements. Indirect methods interpret attitudes from behaviors. Specific attitude scales discussed include Thurstone scales, Likert scales, Guttman's scale, semantic differential scales, and Stapel scales. Projective tests and physiological measures can also indirectly assess attitudes.

1. PREPARED BY:
Mrs. Akila. A, M.sc (N); M.Sc(PSY)
Associate Professor

2. ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE
Attitude is measured through attitude
scales like the Likert Scale, the semantic
differential and socio metry. Attitudes cannot
be directly observed, but are inferred from
overt behaviour, both verbal and non verbal
behaviour.

3. • Attitude can be assessed by:
(i) Direct method:
Measuring the verbal report.
(ii) Indirect Method:
Interpretation of the attitude from the
unsaturated or indirect responses.

4. DIRECT METHOD FOR
MEASUREMENT OF ATTITUDE
• In this method ,the opinion of an individual
about a particular subject in the form of a verbal
report is collected and based on this, his
attitude towards the subject is estimated.
- Asking the individual directly how he feels
about a subject.(questioning and interview )
- Asking to mark those statements from a list
with which he is in agreement.
- To indicate his degree of agreement (or)
disagreement with a series of statements
dealing with the same subject.

5. SCALING METHODS
- Helps to assess the degree of attitude for
larger population.
- Norms have been developed to measure
attitude towards aspects like education,
family, sex, adopting new technology etc..
- Attitude scales has a draw back of social
desirability , which refers to the fact that
people come up with socially desirable
responses that make them appear “ well
adjusted” or unprejudiced.

6. THURSTONE SCALE
• It is the first formal method designed to
measure attitude.
• It is also known as method of equal
appearing interval.
• It is made up of statements about the
particular issues.
• consists of statements which have a range of
weights from high (usually 11) to low (usually
1).
• Subjects select the attitudinal statements
they agree with most

8. LIKERT SCALE
• The most popular attitude scale type. It
was given by Rensis Likert (1932). It is
also known as Summated rating scale.
Respondents indicate the extent to which
they endorse the statements (e.g., agree /
disagree)

10. • This process does not require the
categorization of items by a group of judges.
Items (50 – 60) are selected on the basis of
the response of subjects to whom they are
administered in the course of developing the
test.
• The statements are arranged randomly and
a have a five point rating scale- ‘strongly
agree’,‘agree’,‘uncertain’, ‘Disagree’ , strongly
disagree.
• The number of favourable and unfavourable
statements should be approximately equal.
• The sum of the statements credits represents
the score of an individual

11. GUTTMAN’S SCALE
• This technique assesses the extent of the
subject’s agreement with items, where the
items are meant to represent a continuum
• 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.

12. 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.
• The scale measures both the direction and
intensity of the attribute simultaneously.
• It has properties similar to the semantic
differential.

14. STAPEL SCALE
A simplified version of the semantic
differential scale in which a single
adjective or descriptive phrase is used
instead of bipolar adjectives.

15. • The scale measures both the direction and
intensity of the attribute simultaneously.
• It has properties similar to the semantic
differential.

16. INDIRECT MEASURES
• Projective test involves presenting a
person with an ambiguous (or) incomplete
stimulus ( Example: Picture or words)
which is interpreted by the person and his
attitude is inferred from this interpretation.
• Size of the pupil and GSR as the indicator
of arousal to measure attitudes.
• Electromyography also helps to measure
attitude(but not successfully established)

17. PSYCHOMETRIC ASSESSMENT
OF EMOTIONS
• Measurement of emotion is important in
understanding the physiological basis of
emotion.
• Methods of Assessment:
(i) Galvanic Skin response:
This test measures the activation of sweat
glands during emotional arousal resulting in
lowering of electrical resistance of skin.

18. (ii) Electrocardiography or Electrocardiogram:
This test measures changes in the rate and
rhythm of the heart during emotional arousal.
(iii) Electroencephalogram(EEG):
This test measures the brain rhythmic
activityy during emotional arousal.

19. Other Tests:
(i) Recording changes in breathing rate
(ii) Blood Pressure
(iii) Breathing Pattern.