ATTITUDE SCALES

ATTITUDE SCALE : MEANING, TYPES, OTHER NAMES & REASONS

1. Meaning of Attitude Scale

An Attitude Scale is a scientific tool used to measure an individual’s attitudes, opinions, beliefs, feelings, and dispositions toward a particular object, person, idea, subject, or situation. Since attitudes are psychological constructs and cannot be observed directly, attitude scales convert them into numerical or categorical scores.

Attitude scales are widely used in Educational Psychology, Sociology, and Research Methodology.

2. Types of Attitude Scales with Other Names, Reasons & Examples

2.1 Likert Scale

Other Name: Summated Rating Scale

Reason for Other Name:
It is called a Summated Rating Scale because the final attitude score is obtained by adding (summing) the scores of all individual statements.

Example:
Statement: “I enjoy learning English.”
Strongly Agree – Agree – Neutral – Disagree – Strongly Disagree

Exam Point: Most widely used attitude scale in educational research.

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2.2 Thurstone Scale

Other Names: Equal-Appearing Interval Scale, Judges’ Rating Scale

Reason for Other Name:
It is called an Equal-Appearing Interval Scale because experts arrange statements in such a way that the intervals between successive statements appear equal on the attitude continuum.

Example:
1. Homework is useless (1.0)
2. Homework has little value (3.0)
3. Homework is sometimes useful (5.0)
4. Homework improves learning (7.0)
5. Homework is essential (9.0)

Exam Point: Most scientific but difficult to construct.

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2.3 Semantic Differential Scale

Other Names: Bipolar Adjective Scale, Osgood Scale

Reason for Other Names:
It is called a Bipolar Adjective Scale because it uses pairs of opposite adjectives.
It is also called the Osgood Scale after its developer Charles E. Osgood.

Example:
Online Learning is:
Useful ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Useless

Exam Point: Measures emotional meaning of concepts.

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2.4 Guttman Scale

Other Name: Cumulative Scale

Reason for Other Name:
It is called a Cumulative Scale because agreement with a higher-level statement automatically implies agreement with all lower-level statements.

Example:
1. I read about environmental issues.
2. I discuss environmental problems.
3. I participate in environmental programs.
4. I actively campaign for the environment.

Exam Point: Responses show a logical cumulative pattern.

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2.5 Bogardus Social Distance Scale

Other Name: Social Distance Scale

Reason for Other Name:
It is called a Social Distance Scale because it measures the degree of social closeness or distance a person is willing to maintain with members of a particular social group.

Example:
Accept as family member → friend → neighbor → citizen → not acceptable

Exam Point: Used to study prejudice, tolerance, and inclusion.

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2.6 Rating Scale

Other Names: Numerical Rating Scale, Graphic Rating Scale, Category Scale

Reason for Other Names:
Different names are used depending on whether attitudes are rated using numbers, visual lines, or descriptive categories.

Example:
Rate your attitude toward Mathematics:
1 – Very Poor | 2 – Poor | 3 – Average | 4 – Good | 5 – Excellent

3. Comparative Summary Table

Scale	Other Name	Reason
Likert	Summated Rating Scale	Scores are added together
Thurstone	Equal-Appearing Interval Scale	Equal expert-judged intervals
Semantic Differential	Bipolar / Osgood Scale	Opposite adjective pairs
Guttman	Cumulative Scale	Progressive agreement pattern
Bogardus	Social Distance Scale	Measures social closeness
Rating Scale	Numerical / Graphic Scale	Based on rating format

Conclusion (Exam-Oriented):
Different names are given to attitude scales because each name reflects the construction method, scoring procedure, or measurement principle used in that particular scale.