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Journal ArticleDOI

Attitude Measurement: Use of Coefficient Alpha with Cluster or Factor Analysis:

01 May 1970-Sociology (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 4, Iss: 2, pp 227-245
TL;DR: In this paper, a coefficient is described which can be used to obtain rapid reliability estimates for scales derived from either factor or cluster analysis, and the degree of reliability to be aimed at in sample survey work is considered, together with associated problems of scale validity, item selection and scoring, and assumptions about the level of measurement.
Abstract: A coefficient is described which can be used to obtain rapid reliability estimates for scales derived from either factor or cluster analysis. Some affinities with Likert and Guttman scaling are noted. But the total approach is superior to either of these techniques, and to factor or cluster analysis used alone, insofar as it enables the researcher not only to explore the dimensionality of an attitude domain, but also to decide, at the same time, on the number of items required in order to measure each main dimension at an appropriate level of reliability. The degree of reliability to be aimed at in sample survey work is considered, together with associated problems of scale validity, item selection and scoring, and assumptions about the level of measurement.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical case is made for concentration on push factors, and, in particular, those stemming from "anomie" and ego-enhancement in the tourist himself, which is conducive to the creation of a fantasy world, one to which he plans a periodic escape.

1,639 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a sample of 626 persons ranging in age from 4 to 89 years were investigated for viewing attitudes and program preferences, and cluster analysis identified nine motivations: to pass time. arousal. relaxation, information. escape. and social interaction.
Abstract: levels. television attitudes. andprogram preferences were investigated for a sample of 626 persons ranging in age from 4 to 89 years. Cluster analysis identified nine motivations: to pass time. for companionship. arousal. content. relaxation, information. escape. entertainment. and social interaction. Partial correlation analysis revealed significant negative correlations between age and escape. pass time. arousal. and social viewing motivations. No significant relationships were noted between social viewing and viewing levels. content viewing and attachment, or relaxation viewing and reality. Remaining motivations were significant positive correlates of viewing levels. attachment. and reality. Most salient of the significant associations between motivations and program preferences were positive correlations between informational viewing and talk shows. arousal viewing and sports programs; and negative correlations between \"pass time\" vie wing and news programs. social viewing and talk shows. The uses andgratifications research perspective provided the framework for discussing result implications.

523 citations

Journal Article
R Baker1
TL;DR: The development of a new questionnaire to assess patients' satisfaction with consultations together with initial tests of the questionnaire's reliability and validity are reported, finding it reliable under the conditions of this study.
Abstract: The assessment of patient satisfaction has become an important concern in the evaluation of health services. Measures of satisfaction must be valid and reliable if they are to be used widely. This paper reports the development of a new questionnaire to assess patients' satisfaction with consultations together with initial tests of the questionnaire's reliability and validity. Principal components analysis of the patients' assessments of care revealed three factors of satisfaction: the professional aspects of the consultation, the depth of the patient's relationship with the doctor, and the perceived length of the consultation. The consultation satisfaction questionnaire is reliable under the conditions of this study and may have a role in research, medical education and audit.

365 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A Likert-type scale measuring heterosexual attitudes toward homosexuality was developed by as discussed by the authors, and the scale was found to discriminate individuals based on sex, academic major, and church attendance.
Abstract: This article reports on three phases of the development of a Likert‐type scale measuring heterosexual attitudes toward homosexuality. Phase 1 describes the development of the scale. Item analysis yielded 20 statements with item‐total correlations ranging from .57 to .74. In Phase 2 the 20‐item Heterosexual Attitudes Toward Homosexuality (HATH) Scale was administered to 82 subjects. Analysis yielded a corrected split‐half correlation of .92, and the scale was found to discriminate between individuals based on sex, academic major, and church attendance. In Phase 3 (a validation study) the HATH was administered with several additional attitude scales and indexes of an exploratory nature. Analysis yielded a corrected split‐half correlation of .92. As in Phase 2, a significant effect of sex was found; females appear more tolerant than males. In addition, the HATH correlated significantly with peer attitudes, religiosity, and authoritarianism. The scale has satisfactory reliability and shows promising ...

307 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Interventions designed to reduce negative attitudes and promote positive beliefs may help to reduce detrimental, inappropriate longer-term absenteeism due to low-back trouble.
Abstract: Recent evidence indicates that the influence of psychosocial factors on low back disability is as great as, if not greater than, ergonomic aspects; negative attitudes and beliefs are likely to be related to absenteeism To measure workers attitudes and beliefs about low-back trouble, pain, work and activity five questionnaires were used Two new instruments (Back Beliefs Questionnaire and Psychosocial Aspects of Work questionnaire) were developed and tested The attitudes and beliefs were measured among workers in a biscuit manufacturing factory, and the responses related to absenteeism Workers who had taken in excess of one week's absence due to low-back trouble had significantly more negative attitudes and beliefs when compared with workers who had taken shorter absence (or indeed those reporting no history of back trouble) A subset of the psychosocial parameters accounted for 32% of the variance in absence Interventions designed to reduce negative attitudes and promote positive beliefs may help to reduce detrimental, inappropriate longer-term absenteeism due to low-back trouble

299 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a general formula (α) of which a special case is the Kuder-Richardson coefficient of equivalence is shown to be the mean of all split-half coefficients resulting from different splittings of a test, therefore an estimate of the correlation between two random samples of items from a universe of items like those in the test.
Abstract: A general formula (α) of which a special case is the Kuder-Richardson coefficient of equivalence is shown to be the mean of all split-half coefficients resulting from different splittings of a test. α is therefore an estimate of the correlation between two random samples of items from a universe of items like those in the test. α is found to be an appropriate index of equivalence and, except for very short tests, of the first-factor concentration in the test. Tests divisible into distinct subtests should be so divided before using the formula. The index $$\bar r_{ij} $$ , derived from α, is shown to be an index of inter-item homogeneity. Comparison is made to the Guttman and Loevinger approaches. Parallel split coefficients are shown to be unnecessary for tests of common types. In designing tests, maximum interpretability of scores is obtained by increasing the first-factor concentration in any separately-scored subtest and avoiding substantial group-factor clusters within a subtest. Scalability is not a requisite.

37,235 citations

Book
01 Jan 1932
TL;DR: The instrument to be described here is not, however, indirect in the usual sense of the word; it does not seek responses to items apparently unrelated to the attitudes investigated, and seeks to measure prejudice in a manner less direct than is true of the usual prejudice scale.
Abstract: THIS paper describes a technique which has been developed for the measurement of race prejudice. This technique differs from most prejudice inventories in that it avoids the following assumptions: (a) that the individual can say, to his own or the investigator's satisfaction, "This is how prejudiced I am," and (b) that, to the extent that the individual can accurately assess his degree of antipathy, he will report honestly the findings of such introspection. Most sociologists would perhaps agree that race attitudes rarely reside on a completely articulate level. Even where the individual holds to intellectual or ideological convictions which would seem to leave no room for out-group antipathies, such do persevere. Thus, we may expect the number of Americans who honestly think themselves "unprejudiced" to be considerably larger than effective research would reveal. Moreover, the number who present themselves as unprejudiced probably exceeds considerably the number who honestly, though often inaccurately, see themselves in this light. Most indirect techniques for the measurement of attitudes have their rationale in observations such as these. The instrument to be described here is not, however, indirect in the usual sense of the word; it does not seek responses to items apparently unrelated to the attitudes investigated. We do, however, seek to measure prejudice in a manner less direct than is true of the usual prejudice scale. In our instrument we seek to measure anti-Negro prejudice. Persons are called upon to respond on social distance scales to whites and Negroes who occupy a variety of occupational positions. The measure of prejudice is derived through the summation of the differences in distance responses to Negroes as opposed to whites in the same occupations. Thus, for lack of a better label,

12,492 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The present interpretation of construct validity is not "official" and deals with some areas where the Committee would probably not be unanimous, but the present writers are solely responsible for this attempt to explain the concept and elaborate its implications.
Abstract: Validation of psychological tests has not yet been adequately conceptualized, as the APA Committee on Psychological Tests learned when it undertook (1950-54) to specify what qualities should be investigated before a test is published. In order to make coherent recommendations the Committee found it necessary to distinguish four types of validity, established by different types of research and requiring different interpretation. The chief innovation in the Committee's report was the term construct validity.[2] This idea was first formulated by a subcommittee (Meehl and R. C. Challman) studying how proposed recommendations would apply to projective techniques, and later modified and clarified by the entire Committee (Bordin, Challman, Conrad, Humphreys, Super, and the present writers). The statements agreed upon by the Committee (and by committees of two other associations) were published in the Technical Recommendations (59). The present interpretation of construct validity is not "official" and deals with some areas where the Committee would probably not be unanimous. The present writers are solely responsible for this attempt to explain the concept and elaborate its implications.

9,935 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
S. S. Stevens1
07 Jun 1946-Science
TL;DR: The current issues will remain at 32 pages until a more adequate supply of paper is assured, due to a shortage of paper for Bacto-Agar research.
Abstract: The current issues will remain at 32 pages until we are assured of a more adequate supply ofpaper. Bacto-Agar is a purified Agar prepared from domestic material. In the manufacture of Bacto-Agar extraneous matter, pigmented portions, and salts are reduced to a minimum, so that the finished product in the form of fine granules will dissolve rapidly, giving clear solutions. Bacto-Asparagine Bacto-Asparagine is a purified amino acid widely used in synthetic culture media and in the preparation of tuberculin.

4,080 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a general coefficient of monotonicity, whose maximization is equivalent to optimal satisfaction of the Monotonicity condition, is defined, and which allows various options both for treatment of ties and for weighting error-of-fit.
Abstract: LetA 1,A 2, ...,A n be anyn objects, such as variables, categories, people, social groups, ideas, physical objects, or any other. The empirical data to be analyzed are coefficients of similarity or distance within pairs (A i,A i ), such as correlation coefficients, conditional probabilities or likelihoods, psychological choice or confusion, etc. It is desired to represent these data parsimoniously in a coordinate space, by calculatingm coordinates {x ia } for eachA i for a semi-metricd of preassigned formd ij =d(|x i1 -x j1 |, |x i2 -x j2|, ..., |x im -x jm |). The dimensionalitym is sought to be as small as possible, yet satisfy the monotonicity condition thatd ij

1,310 citations

Trending Questions (1)
What are some case studies that use coefficient values?

The paper does not provide any specific case studies that use coefficient values.